Fall to Pieces
by blueXstar
Summary: [HD SLASH] 6th Year. Harry and Draco must work on a potions project. Draco accidentally gets something on his hands, and that sets things in motion. Harry is faced with many things, and realizes something he never expected.
1. Beginnings

Harry cursed loudly as he rounded a corner, skidding alittle on the hardwood floor. Once he had traction again, he resumed running. There were only three months left of school and he had gone so long without getting any detention from Professor Snape for two weeks now. This was surely going to ruin that streak.  
  
He took the stairs to the dungens at a run and tripped on the last step, falling, propelling all of his belongings across the floor. "Bloody hell!" he whispered frantically trying to gather all of his belongings to try and make it to class before he was too late. Once collected, he broke off at another run and opened the door to Snape's classroom. He stepped in, the door slamming shut behind him.  
  
Snape was at the board talking, but when he heard the door shut, promptly turned around and glared at him. All the students in the room turned to face him, including Malfoy and his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. "Ah, Mr. Potter. So glad you decided to join us for this lesson today." Harry sighed and took a couple of steps toward the table where Ron and Hermione were sitting.   
  
Hermione gave him that reproachful, knowing look, saying that detention was coming and that there was nothing he could do to stop it. Ron just smiled weekly and willed him to sit, so he did. Malfoy looked at him, laughed, leaned over and said a few words to Goyle and the two bursted out into a great laughter. Snape, however paid them no attention.  
  
He took a few steps away from the board and clasped his hands in front of him,"Mr. Potter, what was the excuse for your lateness today? Wait," he said holding his hands up in front of him,"I don't want to hear it. I'll just give you the detention and get it over with." Harry sunk lower into his seat as Malfoy whispered an insult that he didn't quite hear, but he know he said something. "Now, as I was saying," Snape continued,"before we were interrupted by a certain students lateness, this term is coming fast to an end. The qualifications for passing this class get harder each year. This year is no exception."  
  
He was in front of the board again, Ron tapped him on the arm and passed him a note that was scrawled in curly writing, writing that could only belong to Hermione. It read:  
  
'What happened?'  
  
'I woke up late.' he replied, carefully passing the note back to her. She read it with a nod and pointed her wand at it, muttering a silent charm, the note disappeared quickly and quitely.  
  
Snape walked around his desk,"As stated, on your syllabus papers that each of you recieved at the beginning of the year, projects were to be completed with a partner. This is the only project that we will do this year, with a partner, and it will take the rest of the term to complete. This project is going to make," he said with a pause looking around the room,"or break you." he said now looking at Harry. He sunk lower into his seat.  
  
"Before you go picking partners, I must tell you that I have decided who you will work with. Partner assignment is posted on the notice board outside of the Great Hall. Please check the list sometime before Monday evening, as that's when the project will start. Here are your project packets,"he said pointing with his wand at a pile of parchment envelopes on his desk. They rose into the air and began flying in different directions and landing in front of each student. Harry looked at his name scrawled on the front and picked it up, feeling the thickness. This could not be a good assignment if it was so big.  
  
"Enclosed within each envelope is your assignment. You will find an ingredient list, step by step instructions, information on the potion you will be making, and information on how to document your progress and the progress of the potion. You will also find cautions for certain ingredients that you may handle, and please follow them closely, I don't want any mishaps." He took to looking at Neville this time. Neville gulped and put his head down onto his desk.  
  
Snape continued,"Projects are due to me by the deadline inside of the packet. I expect them in my room, in the back potions room, clearly labed with you and your partners names, the potion that is inside the flask and the expiration date. I will test these myself and give you either a passing or a failing grade. And it is all up to how well you and your partner works together."  
  
Ron shovled food into his mouth and Hermione rolled her eyes distastefully and went back to looking at the content of the envelope Snape had given her this morning. "This sounds actually pretty easy. It's just your standard sleeping draught potion with natural relaxants. Should be a easy A."  
  
Ron rolled his eyes this time,"Hermione, everything is easy for you. I on the other hand probably have the most complicated assignment there is, Snape wants me to fail and I probably will."  
  
"Oh shush, you don't even know who your partner is." she said packing the envelope away in her bag.  
  
"Well, you don't either." He said grabbing a bowl of pudding from across the way.   
  
"Ok, we'll have to check after dinner."  
  
"Harry, what's wrong? You haven't said a word all evening. "  
  
"Snape, I have detention tomorrow night, the night we were going to hang out, before our projects got started."  
  
"Harry, we have all weekend, we can hang out Sunday, that's no problem."  
  
She was right, they would still have time, but that didn't make him feel any better. A horrible feeling was building in the pit of his stomach, something that he had felt many times before. This feeling only meant one thing, some kind of trouble was coming. If it wasn't trouble, it was something that he wouldn't like. Whatever it was, he had a feeling it had something to do with this upcoming project that he had to work on with some unknown person.  
  
Hermione stood from the table, followed by Ron. "Aren't you coming Harry?"  
  
"Uh, yeah." Hermione and Ron slowly walked through the isle ways, Harry stood from the table and followed them. When he entered the hallway, a few students were standing there already checking their partner assignment. A few cheered, one groaned, however he wasn't sure why. Hermione smiled and said proudly,"Ron, you and I are working together. This shall be fun, and we should pass, if only you do your part."  
  
"Right, you think Snape will pass us?"  
  
Hermione was ignoring him now and ran her hand down the assignment listen looking for Harry's name. Harry, however, wasn't that interested in finding out who he was working with. She clasped her hand over her mouth,"Harry I'm so sorry." He eyed her carefully, not quite understanding the tone of her voice. This must be the part that his stomach was trying to warn him about,"Harry, I am really sorry. I wish you didn't have to work with-"  
  
The few students behind him started to part,"Potter!" a familar voice doned,"Potter!" he said again, elbowing his way to where he stood,"I cannot believe I have to work with you!" 


	2. The One of Bad Faith

Malfoy stood there, arms crossed, alone for once. Harry was in disbelief,"You mean," he said starting to laugh,"That I have to work with you? This must be a joke."  
  
He looked to Hermione who shook her head, Ron did the same. "Nope, sorry Potter, it's true. You are forgetting however, that I have to work with YOU." He said poking him in the chest. Harry didn't move.  
  
"Me, and you, working together. This will not work out! What if I refuse to work with you?"  
  
"Already asked Snape, we don't work together, we fail the class and take it next year, together and have to do another assignment, together. So either way, we lose." He said leaning close into Harry, he wasn't sure why, but that made him shudder, and Malfoy seemed to enjoy that.  
  
"Yeah, whatever, see you Monday night then." He turned to walk off, as Hermione and Ron had left him now, but Malfoy grabbed the back of his robes and spun him around.   
  
"No, we meet Sunday night to go over the packet. We get ready, get a jumpstart before anyone else is evening thinking about getting started. We meet in the Great Hall, after dinner. Bring your stuff."  
  
Malfoy turned and walked off, his long robe trailing behind him. Harry stood dumbfounded for a moment, staring in the direction in which he was last seen. He shook his head and joined Ron and Hermione at the stairs ready to go to the dormitory.  
  
Harry trudged slowly up the stairs on his way to the Gryffindor common room. Snape had him cleaning the potions classroom, and then had him take inventory and stock the shelves full of new potions equipment and ingredients, all without magic. He was used to doing work like this at home, but not at school, and now he was completely tired out.  
  
He glanced at his watch, 11:30. Technically, he was breaking curfew by being out this late, but it was not his fault. Mrs. Norris, Filch's cat, sat at the top of the stairs and glared at him,"I'm not doing anything wrong you know." He said as he reached the step second to the top,"Go ahead and tell Filch, I don't care."  
  
She meowed, growed and ran off, tail ramrod straight. "Good riddence." Harry said and continued the seemingly long walk to the portrait hole. When he reached it, the Fat Lady was fast asleep and snoring. "Excuse me." he whispered. She only mumbled in repsonse.  
  
"Spiced rum." Harry said in a hushed tone. The portrait however did not swing open. He cleared his throat,"Spiced rum." he said again louder. She turned a bit, mumbled something about spiders and tea cosies and the portrait hole swung open.  
  
"Right, that's safe. Say anything and she'll let you in, no questions asked." The common room was empty except for Crookshanks who was stretched out into a chair and Hermione who was laying on the couch. Ron was in the chair closest to the fireplace, head back, one arm hanging over the side, the other arm resting on the back of the chair.  
  
He cleared his throat loudly, Ron jumped causing himself to roll off the chair landing on his stomach. Harry stiffled a giggle while Hermione sat up and stretched,"What time is it?"  
  
"Just after 11:30," Harry said taking a seat on the couch. Ron had stood now, and brushed himself off like nothing had happened. He strolled over rather casually to them both. "Snape had me doing all of his work for him, as usual. I'm surprised he even let me go when he did. Mrs. Norris ran off to Filch, don't know exactly what I was doing wrong, but she found something wrong with what I was doing."  
  
"You know her, that's the thing, good for nothing, git!" Ron sputtered.  
  
"Ron! Be quiet, people are trying to sleep."  
  
He rolled his eyes and took the seat opposite Hermione. "We really should go to bed. We need to get up early to finish last minute homework before we start on those special assignments, and we wanted to hang out before our schedule go too booked up."  
  
Ron was leaned back into the couch now, slowly falling asleep. "I sort of forgot to tell you guys, that tomorrow night, after dinner, I'm supposed to meet Malfoy to go over our project."  
  
At this, Ron jumped up,"Why are you meeting that ferret for? He'll probably just jinx you!"  
  
"Harry, that does sound suspious." Hermione said.  
  
"Guys, it's not like I'm meeting him alone in a dark room, we are meeting in the Great Hall. Besides, I'll be working with him for three months, alone on this, you won't be with me all the time, and I think it's time that we actually work together on something for once."  
  
"It sounds to me like you want this." Ron said through narrowed eyes.  
  
"He has no choice Ron. He either does this, or fails, and he's come too far to throw it all away now. "  
  
"Right, so he is going to work with the bouncing ferret without putting up a fight?" He began to anger now, his face turning red, his ears following suit.  
  
'If I fight it, it's just going to make it worse. I will meet him tomorrow, no questions asked. I will be fine, I think I can take care of myself. He may come from a Death Eater family, but I don't think he's as skilled at magic as he'd like people to think."  
  
They soon said their goodnights and trudged off to their rooms. Harry and Ron moved slowly getting ready for bed as to try not to wake anyone. Ron whispered,"Harry, just promise you'll be careful around him, his father may be in jail, but there is still something about him that I do not trust."  
  
"I promise."  
  
After Ron had fallen asleep, Harry lay thinking. Of course this was bad..wasn't it? Well, it wasn't that bad. Malfoy had a certain air about him..something that made him different from the other guys. Oh hell, he might as well admit it, he found Malfoy, Draco Malfoy hot.   
  
Was the infamous Harry Potter gay? Well Harry himself wasn't sure. He found lots of women attractive, he found lots of guys attractive, so in technical terms, that would make him bisexual, right?  
  
It wasn't like he's expecting something to happen, because he didn't think it would. This is Malfoy, the guy who has hated his guts since day one, and Monday would be no different. They'd come together on civil terms, to work on a school project, and once this project was done, they'd break all ties, forget it happened and resume their normal lives come next year.   
  
Yes, Monday would be no different. 


	3. All Wrong

Harry awoke that morning with a simple feeling of dread. He dressed quickly, as everyone else was already gone and met Ron and Hermione in the common room. They left the Gryffindor Tower and entered the Great Hall, taking their usual seats at the Gryffindor table.  
  
Harry stole a look at the Slytherin table, and wasn't exactly sure why he did. Malfoy was there, as usual, telling an animated story causing the section of his table to go up in roars of laughter. Malfoy glanced in his direction, a small sneer playing across his lips and then said something about him. Harry didn't care, and went back to eating.  
  
"So, you think the Canons are going to win the tournament?" Ron asked while shoving a piece of roll into his mouth. Harry thought for a moment.  
  
"You know, they do have a good team this year, I s'pose it is possible."  
  
Ron only nodded in return, Hermione however rolled her eyes,"Honestly." she said under her breath,"You two have homework to do, AND you need to start thinking about this project, I don't think talking about Quidditch teams is going to help you now."  
  
After Hermione had spoken her mind, the three had gone quiet, saying nothing until they had reached the Gryffindor Common room again. "Books." Hermione said sternly. Ron turned and mocked her a tad as they both walked up the stairs to the boys dormitory and retrieved their books from their trunks.  
  
Hermione was there, Crookshanks sitting in her lap. She was absentmindly stroking him behind the ears. "Bloody furball." Ron muttered as he sat down far away from them both.   
  
Harry opened his books and began writing the rest of the essay for Professor Lupin. (He had since returned, no one else was qualified for the job, and Dumbledore convinced everyone that he would be safe, as long as he drank the potion Snape was to prepare before every full moon.)  
  
"Why do we have to write about Wizard Duels? I don't understand the point, and I don't think we will use this in the future."  
  
"It's not the point of doing it, it's about you knowing the basics and how it's usually done." Hermione said reading the current Daily Prophet.  
  
"I know how to do it!" Ron said.  
  
"Ron, I hardly think what we did during our second year, was a wizards duel, it was more like a 'Lockhart try to make himself look all great by teaching us stuff he didn't know' duel." Harry pipped in.  
  
With Ron and Harry finally finishing their essays, the trio left the castle and took a walk around the grounds, taking shelter from the sun under a large tree by the lake. They spent most of the afternoon there, talking aimlessly about nothing, and watching the giant squid from time to time. When that got boring, they walked to Hagrids hut and helped him care for the new shipment of Flobberworms and helped him with the hippogriffs.  
  
"Oh my!" Hermione began,"It's just about halfway through lunch!" and she broke off at a run.  
  
Ron, Harry and Hagrid watched her,"What's with 'er?" Hagrid asked stroking a hippogriff under the chin.  
  
"I'm not sure," Harry began,"but I think she's worried about missing lunch."  
  
Harry was on the edge of his seat all during dinner. He had his bag at his feet, complete with the packet for his project. Loud talking was coming from the Slytherin table, and once again, Malfoy was the center of it. Harry was dreading meeting him after dinner, he didn't want to, and yet, he was very compelled to do so. He was being torn in two different directions, and for once, he was unsure of which direction he should take.  
  
One by one, and sometimes in groups, the students began to leave. Only Ron, Hermione and Harry were left at the Gryffindor table, while the Slytherin table was quite packed. All the students from the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw table were officially gone.   
  
"Malfoy, are you coming?" Someone asked the blonde, Harry guessed it was Goyle.  
  
"No," he said, Harry stole a sideways glance at him,"I have some things," he said indicating towards Harry,"to take care of." he finished with a menacing tone.  
  
Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson laughed,"Oh, we understand." Pansy said, and lead Crabbe and Goyle out of the Great Hall.  
  
"Don't listen to them mate," Ron said,"He's just trying to get at you."  
  
"Yeah," Hermione said,"Just don't leave with him..I still don't trust him."  
  
With Ron and Hermione gone, Harry was alone at his table. Malfoy wasn't making a move to sit with him, as if sitting there would somehow contaminate him. "Well Potter?" he asked hands clapped in front of him on the table. "I'm a Malfoy, I go to no one, they come to me."  
  
Harry sighed heavily and left his table and joined Malfoy at his. "Did you bring the packet?" he asked pulling his from his bag.  
  
"Yeah." Harry said placing his on the table. Malfoy, like him, hadn't opened his yet. They did at the same time, and Malfoy snorted.  
  
"A love potion." he sneered. "Why the bloody hell is Snape making us make a Love potion?"  
  
"How am I supposed to know?" Harry asked reading his own list.  
  
Both were quiet for a few minutes, Malfoy's brow had creased as he was studying the list. Harry did the same,"Sounds easy enough, we just have to harvest the herbs during the right moon phase and we just have to get a few potion ingredients from Snape. If we follow the timeline, all should be well."  
  
Harry eyed him,"How do you know so much?"  
  
"Did you honestly think I was an idiot Potter?"  
  
Harry though for a moment,"Well, yeah. I just figured you were passing because of your money and because of the position your father once held."  
  
Draco rolled his eyes,"Honestly Potter." he said gathering his things and shoving them into his bag one by one,"I am not an idiot, I am nothing like my father, and you have no idea what my life is like." he closed his bag and flung it over his shoulder,"And if you think that you are going to make me do all the work, you are wrong." He was leaning on the table now, he glared at Harry and stood, with one final sneer, he walked off briskly, leaving only the faint smell of his expensive cologne.  
  
After the initial shock of what Malfoy had said, Harry too gathered his things and made his way to the Gryffindor tower where Ron was stationed beside the protrait whole,"Did he try to curse you? Did he try to get you in trouble?" When Harry said nothing,he became irritated,"Tell me he did something atleast!" he said throwing his hands in the air.  
  
That night, Harry found it hard to sleep. The words that Malfoy had said to him during their meeting in the Great Hall kept repeating over and over in his head. Perhaps he had him all wrong, perhaps there was something more to him, something that Harry didn't quite understand yet. Finally, after several hours of conversation with himself, Harry drifted off into a fitful sleep. 


	4. Warnings and Predictions

**A/N :Ok, I've done some research, and the ingreidents that you are going to be seeing making an appearence in the next few chapters are what usually is considered in making love potions.   
****This chapter is longer and I hope you like it. I tried to make it longer and get you to a place before Harry is going to work with Malfoy.**

**LibranQueen103: Don't read if you don't want a sort of spoiler! You asked a question and I'm here to answer it a tad. It's not a signifigance that Snape is having them make a love potion, however, the fact that they are making a love potion is vital to the plot here. There are LOTS of clues as to what is going to happen in later chapters, so look for those and see if you can figure it out! I hope I explained it enough not to give anything away, but enough to explain what you asked.

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**

Harry awoke with a start on Monday morning, partly because he was hit square in the face with a pillow. He jumped up from bed and looked around, only to find Seamus stiffling giggles on his bed. When Seamus was beside himself with laughter, Harry took this opportunity to throw the pillow back. Seamus was sitting far too close to the edge of the bed, however, and when he was hit with the pillow, he was knocked off the bed with a loud 'thud.'  
  
Harry got dressed while Seamus was stile laying on the floor,he finally got up, spoke something of revenge and went down to breakfast. When he reached the doors, he came to the realization that the mail had already arrived. Hermione was sitting there with Ron as usual. Harry couldn't help but wonder if there was something more between those two that he was not yet aware of. He shook his head and walked to his usual spot at the table, only to find a beautiful owl sitting there, letter clutched tightly in it's beak.  
  
When Harry got closer, he noticed it was an eagle owl, a very rare breed and only availble to someone who was able to afford that kind of money on a pet. "Oh Harry! I'm glad you're here!" Hermione squeaked out as he sat down,"You were upstairs when the mail arrived and she just sat down. I tried to take it from her, I told her I would give it to you, but she bit me! Whatever it is, it must be rather important for her to keep!" Hermione looked at the finger this mystery owl had bitten.  
  
Harry made slowly and stroked the owl. Seeming to know that this was the person she was to give the letter to, she dropped the parchment envelop into his hand. She called to someone loudly and flew off through the Great Hall and out the window. "Those owls are right expensive, it could only belong to one person." Ron said throwing a look over to the Slytherin table,"I swear, if he's that low, where he's got to start sending owls to make insults, he's going to get it." he continued.  
  
Ron didn't notice, but Harry caught the dirty look Hermione threw him. He tore open the envelop and unfolded the letter. He knew at once who it was from, just by looking at the handwriting.  
  
_Potter,  
  
Project tonight. Meet me in the 3rd floor storage room. Bring 3 apples, one of each color: green, red, and yellow. I have the other supplies ready to go. 8:00, as we mentioned before.  
  
Malfoy  
_  
"So, was it from Malfoy?" Ron asked looking about as he was to kill him.  
  
"Yeah, it was, but don't go doing anything, as it was just about our potions project."  
  
The day had gone by a lot faster than Harry would have liked. Before he knew it, he was at lunch, sitting with Hermione and Ron who were fighting over how they were going to make their potion,"I'm telling you, we have to do it this way!" Hermione said,"It will only turn out if we do it that way!"  
  
Ron rolled his eyes,"'Mione, I am sure there are plenty of different ways to do it, and it will still turn out." Ron seemed pretty sure of himself.  
  
"Ron, do you really want to do it your way? I mean, your ways don't always turn out like they should." Harry seemed to have struck a nerve as Ron put down his fork and thought for a moment.  
  
"You know what, I believe you're right."  
  
"So Harry, you haven't told us what you and Malfoy are making." Hermione said now pouring over a potion book.  
  
"It's some sort of love potion. I can't remember the name right now, but I know it's a love potion."  
  
Hermione watched him,"If I was Snape, I wouldn't give students love potions as projects, those things turn out to be very dangerous if proper precautions aren't taken."  
  
"Yeah, well, this is Snape, he doesn't like me, and I don't think he cares what happens to his students."  
  
Hermione continued with her lecture about love potions,"I'm being serious Harry, some of those things you have to watch. I mean, one little slip up, and that's it. Just by getting some of that stuff on your hands, well, it can cause serious problems Harry. With your working with Malfoy, I'd be extra careful. I wouldn't put it past him to purposely spill something on you."  
  
After lunch, Harry and Ron made their way to the Divination Tower and Hermione left to take her Muggle Studies III class. Trelawney was walking around the room slowly,"Class, today, we are continuing our work with Tarot cards. Get out your decks and begin reading for your partners. Once you feel you have progressed enough, read for someone else in the room."  
  
"What a load of rubbish." Ron muttered pulling his deck of tarot cards from the drawer under the table. Harry's deck was already out and he was shuffling the cards.  
  
"As long as we pretend to see something," Harry said leaning over the table now,"we won't have any problems passing this class."  
  
Professor Trelawney was talking to Lavendor Brown now, telling her about her love life, as from what she was seeing from her partners cards. Ron had just dealt a reading for Harry when she found herself behind him, reading over his shoulder.  
  
She put her hands to her chest and groaned,"Oh Harry dear." she said tutting,"This is not good. I sense danger. Working on a project with someone, aren't you? Oh it does not look good. Oh dear oh dear!"  
  
Harry and Ron exchanged looks, but Harry was intrigued, knowing that she only got a handful of predictions right, and she did seem pretty close with this one, he decided to ask her about this further,"What do you see?"  
  
"Oh it's terrible. You will be put through trials my boy, trying your strength and character. Oh dear, and you'll get hurt in the end. No, wait, oh I'm seeing mixed messages here. Be careful." she tapped Harry on the shoulder and walked off to the back of the room.  
  
"She's mental, that one." Ron said.  
  
Even though Harry didn't trust everything Trelawney had said, somewhere, deep inside of him, something she had said, did not sit well with him. He felt that maybe this was one of these times that she could actually be right.  
  
The rest of the day had gone by fast, and Ron kept wondering why Harry was in such a bad mood now. Hermione even asked him at dinner, he said that nothing was wrong, and ate a few helpings of what he liked and then left the table. He still had to collect the apples for the potions project.  
  
He pulled his cloak around him tightly and walked down the stairs outside the Entrance Hall. He walked along the side of the castle and ran smack dab into Hagrid who had just gotten done chopping wood," Alright 'arry?"  
  
"Yeah, sorry Hagrid. I'm just on my way to get some apples for a project."  
  
"Oh, you'll 'ever be able to get those you'self. You'll need some 'elp." Hagrid said walking off. Harry had to run to catch up with him.  
  
"I need a red one, a yellow one and green one."  
  
Hagrid had just pulled a red one down from a tall tree,"Making a love potion?" He said eyeing him suspicously.  
  
"Yeah, end of the term projects for potions."  
  
"Oh, I got you." He said handing Harry the red and yellow apples. He stepped over to another tree and pulled down a green one,"You watch yourself 'arry. Those love potions can be horror."  
  
"Thanks Hagrid, I'll be careful." he said and walked back off to the castle. Why was everyone warning him?


	5. Complicated

**A/N: Just to clear something up, as I don't think it is clear. Harry only finds Malfoy attractive. Nothing more than that. No word yet on Draco's feelings..but I will try and start to get more of his point of view as this story progresses. I'm also quite sorry the chapters are rather short. I know it doesn't give you a lot to go on, but I don't want to write long boring chapters that just drag on and on.  
The names of items contained in this chapter, are all made up from my own little mind. As far as I know, nothing like what is stated exists..but I could be wrong.  
Now, onto your reading, and please review!!

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**When Harry found himself back inside the castle, he was greeted by Ron and Hermione,"We are going to be on the 2nd floor, in an empty classroom if you need us." Hermione said.  
  
Ron nodded,"If Malfoy tries anything, get us and I'll give him a pounding he'll never forget." he said clenching up his fists.  
  
"Ron, how many times," Hermione said pulling him up the stairs,"do I have to tell you that fighting is not the answer?"  
  
Harry laughed to himself and began the long walk up the stairs behind Ron and Hermione. Once they reached the second floor, they said their goodbyes and agreed to meet back in the common room once they were done. Once his two friends had shut the door on the empty classroom, he began the walk to the 3rd floor.  
  
Once there, he was unsure of which direction to go in. He got the answer though when he saw an slightly open door to his right. He walked down the hallway, still clutching the apples within his robes. When he reached the door, he peaked in, only to find Draco sitting there with his back turned to him, completely unaware that he was being watched.  
  
Harry felt no need to move and join Draco. He felt nice just staring at him from a safe distance. Draco moved a bit and that was enough to break the trance like state that he was currently under. He jumped when he spoke,"Potter, you're late. Are you going to join me, or do you find me that attractive to just stand and watch me?"  
  
Harry blushed and entered the room, dumping the apples onto the table. Before him on the table was a cauldron containing a liquid being heated, several empty flasks and some flasks that contained weird looking substances. Malfoy was stirring whatever was in the cauldron while reading over the list of instructions. He looked up,"Oh, so you have the apples, good."  
  
"Did you think I was going to forget them?" Harry asked frowning.   
  
"Of course. You're too busy with saving the fate of the world to remember something as trivial as apples. " Malfoy said looking back down at the paper again.  
  
"Oh haha Malfoy." Harry said taking a seat. He watched Malfoy for a moment and was surprised to find that he was rather attractive. The way the light was hitting him made him seem almost perfect, heaven sent if you will. He shook his head. That was not something to think about. Especially not about Malfoy,one the most evil people in the wizarding world, well except for Voldemort of course.  
  
"Stop daydreaming." he said pulling something from his pocket. Harry jumped when he realized what the object was, a knife. "Bloody hell Potter. For someone who has faced the Dark Lord on many occasions, you're sure a jumpy fellow." he placed the knife in front of him,"Chop the apples into small bits, but save the seeds, we'll need those later."  
  
Harry nodded and began chopping the apples slowly as to make them into perfect shapes. When set onto this task, he got hot. He wiped his brow and noticed that Malfoy had since removed his cloak and was wearing a white shirt, sleeves rolled up, Slytherin house tie hung loosely around his neck. Harry stopped and removed his own cloak, hanging it over the back of his chair.   
  
Once Harry had finished chopping the apples, he pushed them away from him and sat back,"What is this potion called?" he asked not trying to sound ignorant.  
  
With out looking up, Draco answered,"Irresistible Love Potion. One of the most powerful of it's kind. I don't know much more than that though." he said in a bored tone that screamed Malfoy.   
  
"What makes it so powerful?"  
  
"And Snape just had to put me with The-Boy-Who-Obviously-Doesn't-Know-Anything-About-Potions." Malfoy said rudely.  
  
"You know Malfoy, I don't have to be doing this with you. I could leave."  
  
"I don't see you doing much of anything. Besides, it wouldnt't hurt my grade if you decided to leave. You would fail the class, and I would pass."  
  
"You would pass because you have every bloody thing handed to you because of your father."  
  
At the mention of this, Malfoy tensed up,"You know, you don't have to keep bringing him into this. He doesn't do a damn thing for me. Now, the answer to your last question, Essence of Aphrodite oil is what makes the potion so powerful. I don't know what is in the oil, but it's very potent stuff. We need to be careful handling it."  
  
Just as Harry had grabbed the bottle containing the oil, he of course had no idea what it was, Malfoy's eyes got wide,"Potter, be careful, that's the oil!"  
  
Harry carefully, but quickly put it down. For the next few minutes, they both were quiet,"What is in the cauldron? It smells good."  
  
"Chocolate." Draco said once again in a bored tone.  
  
"Chocolate?"  
  
"Honestly Potter, are you really this daft?" Draco sighed heavily,"Chocolate is a widely known and accepted symbol for love. So it's only fitting that chocolate was included in this potion. I would have been surprised if it wasn't."  
  
Draco stood from his chair and walked around the room a bit stretching his legs. The clock chimed the hour,"Add a few more slices of apple will you?" he said while staring out the window. Harry did as he was told, trying to have a hand in making this potion at least.   
  
From where he was sitting, Harry could hear Draco yawn, which in turn, made Harry do the same. For being rather early in the evening, he was rather tired.  
  
Draco had taken his seat again, and pulled out a spare bit of parchment and a quill. He drew a chart and began to take notes,"This will have to be turned into Snape with the potion when we're done. So it's important that we take good, concise notes. " Harry just nodded. He was getting quite bored of this superior act that Malfoy was putting on lately.  
  
Lately? Hell, Malfoy was doing it all the bloody time, and he was tired of it. Yet, he didn't say anything because that would start a freud which would make working with Malfoy a lot harder thanit should have to be.  
  
After a few more minutes, Draco carefully picked up the bottle of Essence of Aphrodite Oil and added three drops. "That should do it for now," he said gathering his things,"we'll have to start gathering certain herbs. They'll have to be dried of course, well not all of them, but we'll work on that when we get to that point." he said.  
  
Harry gathered his things,"Same time?" he asked leaving the storage room. Malfoy nodded and walked off without saying goodbye or see you later. It wasn't like he expected Malfoy to say any of those things, but he so desperately wanted to hear him say them.  
  
Harry walked down the corridor and down the stairs, finding Ron and Hermione making their way to the portrait hole. On the way back to the Gryffindor Tower, they did small talk about how their projects were coming along so far.   
  
Before going to bed, Harry made himself a promise,he was going to start working towards understanding potions, and understanding Draco Malfoy. 


	6. Trouble is Coming

**A/N: Finally getting to some good stuff! I hope you like, and please keep those reviews coming!

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The rest of the week had passed slowly. Every teacher seemed to be giving all sixth year students lots of homework, and classwork. Put all of that on top of the Potions project, that amounted to a lot of work. Harry completed all of his other classwork first and then met up with Malfoy, or in some cases, went alone to go and gather some of the objects needed to complete the potion.  
  
Then the two would meet up, as always, in the 3rd floor storage room and work on this project together until they got tired, or until they got done a certain step.  
  
The storage room was now littered with herbs, spare pieces of parchment, used quills, flasks, and bits of things the boys would happen to leave behind after the previous night.   
  
Harry and Draco were actually working together on sort of peaceful terms. Malfoy would still jump in with the usual insults here and there, but that was usual, he sees and opportunity and he jumps he. He can't resist the temptation to say something rude when he has a chance. Harry had learned, in four short days how to deal with his comments, and that was by retorting with comments to match his. That usually shut him up or would just bring him back with another, it kind of became a game to see who could come off with a better comment than the other in the short amount of the time the two were working together.  
  
Harry however, still hadn't mastered the task of understanding him. He was, after still a Malfoy, and as it seemed, they had their secrets, many of them from the way it sounded. He didn't like to be open about things, most likely, coming from the fact that his father was a Death Eater and that they had their secrets. However, Harry noticed no Dark Mark on his arm, and was actually quite relieved to find that he hadn't taken the step to become one. Just because his father was evil, and tied with Voldemort, does not mean that he had to become one, and Harry was determined to make sure that he stayed on the light side, or atleast neutral.  
  
Friday proved to be the worst day of the week. Harry awoke that morning to the sounds of thunder and heavy rain splattering against the windows. Everyone was grumpy because of the lack of sleep due to the extra work load being pilled on. Ron was extra grumpy, when asked he replied,"Hermione and this project. She insists we stay up extra late to observe the potion. It's not like it's going anywhere." he said resting his head in his hands. Harry couldn't help laugh, when you get partned with Hermione, expect perfectionism, anything else is a crime.  
  
Not only that, in every class, each teacher insisted on having a pop quiz that was extra hard, and challenged them in every way possible. Snape, of course, made their quiz extra hard and insisted they make a antidote for Sprout Ears potion in less then 30 minutes. Then, the potion had to be tested with a partner. Poor Neville had gotten his wrong, and his partner had to be taken to Madam Pomfrey for the antidote. Luckily, Harry hadn't had this problem and was able to make it directly to dinner without a hitch.  
  
At dinner, both Ron and Hermione seemed to be in a really bad mood. Each was mad at the other for some reason, and Harry didn't dare ask what for. He guessed he was the best decision considering the looks of death and destruction they were giving eachother from across the way. The ceiling in the Great Hall seemed to be reflecting the mood, as the sky was rather dark, not stars or moon in sight. Harry sighed and left them to their glaring to head to the common room to work on some homework that Professor Binns had given him.  
  
He didn't finish this until 8:00 sharp. Neither Ron nor Hermione had come back from dinner yet, they probably went straight to the abandoned classroom to work on their potions project. Harry put his homework away (well putting it on his bed was sort of like putting it away), and headed up to the 3rd floor storage room to meet Draco so they could work on their project.  
  
He was already there, like usual and was pulling down some drying herbs. He turned to face Harry and greeted him with a sneer. "Malfoy." Harry said taking a seat.  
  
"Potter." he spat. Looks like Malfoy was also in a mood.   
  
"What step are we on?" Harry asked pulling the step-by-step instructions to him.   
  
"Number 25." Malfoy said taking a seat,"We have to add this sage, a tad of rosemary, a few more drops of Essence of Aphrodite Oil, and a few rose petals. That should be enough to get us until tomorrow evening and we can do the rest of the steps."  
  
"Ok. Give me the sage and I'll cut that up." Draco passed it to him and went back to the rosemary and began to pull it apart before chopping it up into bits.   
  
This task was done in silence,"Ok, add some of that sage." He said scraping up the bits of chopped rosemary into his hands. Once Harry had added the sage, he dropped the rosemary in slowly and then stirred it quickly. The potion, which was now a off red color, absorbed the herbs quickly and sizzled slightly. The boys sat for awhile and waited until it was time to perform the next step.  
  
The rain began to fall in heavy sheets again, and splattered the window. Lightning flashed over and over again, illuminating the sky for brief seconds at a time. Draco muttered something that sounded like,"terrible weather" and went back to watching the potion.  
  
Harry tapped his fingers against the table and waited for the right time to add the rest of the ingredients. Malfoy had gotten the bottle of Essence of Aphrodite Oil from the shelf and had it sitting next to him, dropper nearby. Harry began to pull the petals from the newly picked rose and watched them flutter down onto the table almost like a feather, but he found the petals to prove more beautiful than any feather could ever be.  
  
Draco watched Harry pull the petals from the rose and was sure that Harry hadn't noticed he was even looking. He hated Potter, oh yes he did, well at one time maybe. He still loathed him, found something in him to be quite unerving, but had enjoyed working with him the past couple of days. Being the enemy of the school hero didn't seem as important as it once was, well not since his father was put in Azkaban.  
  
"You can add the petals now." He said and watched Harry dump them into the cauldron. Draco sat for a few minutes and waited once again until the Essence of Aphrodite Oil was to be added. The thunder rolled, the lightning striked, and the rain continued to fall in heavy sheets. It seemed to be almost heeding a warning, but a warning of what was the main question.  
  
Draco stood, and opened the bottle of oil carefully and picked the dropper up from the table. He placed the dropper into the bottle and added one, two drops of the oil and replaced the lid carefully. Harry knocked something off the table and and bent down to fetch it from under the table. Draco turned to see what it was, the sleeve of his cloak caught the top of the oil bottle and knocked it over. The lid fell off the bottle and rolled across the table, Essence of Aprhodite Oil was now spilling onto the table at a very high rate, and neither of them had what it took to clean it up safely.  
  
"Damn it." Draco said.  
  
Harry was still on his hands and knees trying to grab whatever he was after,"What happened?" he asked peeking his head out from under the table for only a moment.   
  
Draco shook his head,"Nothing, don't worry." He began to look around carefully for towels or something to clean the toxic stuff up with and only found a few. The oil was now covering about half the table and Draco wasn't sure how exactly he was going to clean this up without contaiminating himself. He wasn't about to go to Madam Pomfrey or Professor Snape and explain this mishap.   
  
He turned around and spotted a pair of dragon hide gloves on the far shelf behind him. He turned and walked to the shelf and grabbed the gloves. He turned to walk back to the table and tripped on something lying on the floor. He fell and caught himself on the table. He pushed himself up and found his left hand laying in a puddle of Essence of Aprhodite Oil.  
  
He began to panic. This was not good. Not good at all. He wiped his hand on a towel and stared at it hoping what happen was all an dream that he wished he would just wake up from. What was he going to do now? His hand was just in a puddle of one of the most powerful oils ever. It's not like it was a tiny drop, but it was a whole bloody puddle. He was sure, that whatever the repercussions were, it would not be good.   
  
Harry stood up now and brushed himself off. He took a look at Draco and sensed that something wasn't right, he frowned a little and raised an eyebrow,"What's wrong? Something wrong with the potion?"  
  
Draco wiped his hand on his robe and put the dragon hide gloves on,"No no, I just spilled something. Not a big deal really." But it was a big deal. He just had to figure out what he was going to do, what this oil was about, what it's side effects were and how to take care of it, all by himself. No need to get anyone else, like Potter, involved in something that he didn't need to be involved in.  
  
One the spill was cleaned up (Harry tried several times to help, but Malfoy wouldn't let him), they cleaned up their things, said goodbye and headed back to their rooms.   
  
Harry chatted happily that night with all of his friends, found time to play Wizards Chess with Ron and fell asleep late that night, just like several of his classmates did.   
  
Draco hadn't fallen asleep that fast. He had lay awake for awhile worrying about what this oil was going to do to him, so far, nothing had happened, but after 12 hours on his skin, he wasn't sure what would happen. He decided the best thing for him to do was to quit worrying, go to sleep and deal with the problem accordingly in the morning.


	7. It Begins

**A/N: It has come to my attention, that after reading Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (one of the many re-reads of the book), that love potions at Hogwarts are illegal. However, we are going to assume, that this potion, while being brewed under the watchful eye of Professor Snape, and while not being used on any one person, is ok.   
And, I know I didn't give you much to go on here in this chapter, but I don't want to give it all away yet. I still am going to research some more things myself and then complete the story. I have several ideas for what is going to happen in later chapters, and I will admit, that it probably isn't going to be happy..well not now at least..maybe.   
One with the story, and please please please review!

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Like most of the students at Hogwarts on a Saturday morning, Harry, Ron and Hermione woke up late. After staying up most of the night talking, and playing Wizards Chess, sleeping late seemed like the most logical thing to do. They dressed, and headed down to the Great Hall to eat a late breakfast.  
  
Ron and Hermione were thinking about things they could do today, since they had the whole day off. The potions projects had them so swamped down lately, that getting together and doing nothing at all was quite a hard task. "Since it's a nice day,"Hermione began,"I vote we take a walk around outside, and just have a lazy day."  
  
Ron shook his head, and Harry did so as well. He wasn't paying that much attention to anyone however, because he was too busy staring at the Slytherin table and the empty spot in which Draco would be sitting. The space between Crabbe and Goyle seemed rather large today without him sitting there.  
  
_Where could he be?_ He thought. Draco never usually missed a meal, if he was sick, he always showed up so he could exaggerate it, and get extra attention from people like Pansy who would listen to him as he talked about his illness like he was dying and she would hang all over him, saying how brave he was, and Draco would act like he was the biggest thing in the world.  
  
Maybe his father broke out of Azkaban and he instructed his mother to remove Draco from school while they ran from the aurors. Maybe he was really sick this time and getting out of bed for him was rather difficult. Maybe he was plotting his next move against Harry, and just maybe he was working on the potion.  
  
So many scenes were running through his head now, and he noticed, but noticed vaguely, that Ron and Hermione were staring at him with concerned looks. He decided that worrying about Draco was nothing to him now, and he broke from his trance and looked at them,"Are you ok mate?" Ron asked, looking more red than usual.  
  
Hermione didn't say anything at first, but she eyed him like a mother would eye an injured child,"Is your scar hurting again? Something you should see Dumbledore about?"  
  
"No, no. I'm fine really." He stood from the table,"Let's go take that walk around the lake."  
  
Draco stood in the private bathroom staring at his pale face in the mirror. The night had been a nightmare. His dreams consisted of nothing but sexual situations. He had slept through the night, but it wasn't a restful sleep. He had tossed and turned all night, and when he awoke, he was drenched in sweat.   
  
He ran a sink full of cold water and splashed his face several times before wiping it off with a towel. If it was even possible, he thought he was even paler than usual. That wasn't the only difference that he noticed about himself. He noticed a certain attraction to someone he never thought possible.   
  
He wouldn't let this happen to himself. He wasn't going to let some love oil take over his free will. He was going to beat this.  
  
He dressed and went down to breakfast, eating only a little something, as he wasn't in the mood to eat much. Crabbe and Goyle looked worried, but he blew them off,"I don't have time to mess with you two today. Go off an protect someone else for a change." They looked hurt, but he didn't care. He needed to be by himself so he could work without distraction, without two people beside him that didn't know the different between and potion and a oil. They would certainly slow him down.  
  
The trio had sat down underneath a beautiful tree by the lake. It was large enough to provide plenty of cool shade and was away from most other students as they chose to sit in the courtyard. Oddly enough, even though the group hadn't seen eachother much in the past few days, they had nothing to talk about. No gossip, nothing bad about a teacher, not even anything bad about Malfoy and he was the usual topic of conversation most times. Finally, Ron broke the silence,"Fancy a game of exploding snap?" He asked pulling a deck from his robes.  
  
"Do you carry a deck with you all the time?" Hermione asked leaning with her back against the sturdy tree trunk.  
  
"Pretty much. I find it's the easiest way to beat boredom."   
  
And so they played.   
  
Draco stood in the empty library feeling overwhelmed. There were so many books, on so many subjects and so many possibilities that the information he wanted could be under. He took a deep breath and headed towards the card catalog section. He first looked up love potions and wrote down the results of his searches on some spare parchment slips that the librarian always kept on her desk. He then went and looked up those books, but what he found out helped him none.  
  
The information was useless and gave him little information to work with. Essence of Aphrodite Oil was never mentioned however and he went back to the card catalog to look for more.   
  
This time around, the books that his search gave him were all in the restricted section which was locked and bound. He'd need a note to get in there, and he wasn't about to go to a teacher, explain his situation and beg to be let in so he could research his problem and get help. He'd be better off going to Snape, explaining what happened, admitting what an idiot he was and getting the antidote.  
  
No, he wasn't going to admit his weakness. He was a Malfoy, and he never needed help from someone else unless it was for personal gain. Getting other people involved would mean that he wasn't perfect, and not being perfect in the Malfoy family was a sin.  
  
He searched until lunch with no luck. He gave up and left the library, a new plan forming in his head. He had several books about potions back in the dormitory, maybe, just maybe, he would get lucky and find something about that particular oil in one of them and then he could finally solve this problem and get his life back.  
  
Harry continued to have fun with Ron and Hermione the rest of the day, unaware of the problems that were coming. Nothing could prepare him for what was about to happen.


	8. Just a Simple Kiss

**A/N: This chapter is slightly longer than the rest. I tried to make it longer. It's hard for me to do longer chapters..especially for this story, but I will try. I hope you like it, kind of explains some things, but of course, Harry is as clueless as usual, haha.  
Review guys! I love reading what you think!**

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The rest of Saturday slowly faded away, the sun began to set over the grounds of Hogwarts, casting an eerie glow over the grounds. Harry, Ron, and Hermione had entered the Great Hall and took their usual seats at the table. Seamus and Dean were telling animated stories about a prank they pulled on a 7th year Slytherin earlier in the day and the table interrupted in laughter.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and filled her plate with her favorite foods. Ron was already eating however, Harry was slower to do so. He had a bad feeling about meeting Malfoy to work on the potion tonight. However, he pushed that from his mind and filled his plate, eating a lot slower than her normally did.  
  
Malfoy was still searching through his private library, trying to find any solution to this problem. He still wasn't sure of the effects of the oil, as he hadn't been around the one he was attracted too, however, he felt a horrible tug on his heartstrings since he wasn't and he hoped that wasn't a long term effect. He tossed book after book aside after each of them proved to be useless. Zabini entered the dorm to ask him a question and had to duck quickly to avoid getting smacked upside the head with large book titled "Special Potions and Brews". He stood and eyed him,"I think I'll come back later." He said and slammed the door shut behind him quickly.  
  
Draco picked up the last book he had on his shelf about potions and hoped this would prove true to it's title and give him some sort of information. "_Potions, Oils and Brews- All you want to Know_ by _Melinda Goodock_."  
  
He checked the index under love potions and oils first and was overjoyed to find a paragraph.  
  
_Love Potions are very dangerous when used in the wrong sense. Some potions and oils have little effect on the person on the recieving end, however, others prove to be more powerful. Examples of the most powerful oils include the ever popular Essence of Aprhodite oil, which is believed to hold a very special substance only known to few. Futhermore, it is believed, that the oil contains a special blend of substances from Aprhodite herself which makes the oil so powerful. The oil is of the rarest kind and can not be made by just anyone. The last known makers of the oil are Merlin, and Nicholas Flammel._   
  
Draco flipped to the index again and ran his finger down the columns. He grinned when his eyes came to rest upon Essence of Aphrodite oil page 897. He turned their quickly and noticed, with a huge sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, that half the page was missing. He sighed and read what was contained on the page.  
  
_Essence of Aphrodite oil is one of the most powerful kinds of love oils. Used only in potions that ask for a person to be taken over completely by a certain person. The oil acts like an imperius curse, and the victim is forced to bend completely to the casters will. However, in some cases, where the oil was not used in a potion, but gotten onto a persons skin, the first person the victim sees, upon getting the oil on his skin will find a deep rooted attraction to them. This oil can penetrate the mind, body and soul so deeply in which the person no longer knows the difference between what is real and what is fake. This confuses the victim, and they no longer know what they want and what the oil is forcing upon them. Over time, the most destructive effect of the oil is a gradual, unconcious, yielding of the mind, until submission becomes inevitable. The oil has reached it's most potent stage when the victim believes they are acting upon their own free will. There are only a few known cures for the oil, and only one is the easiest-_  
  
And the paragraph had stopped. He was so close to finding an answer, so close to getting himself out of this hell that was forced upon him and the rest of the page was gone. Considering this was a very old book, a book that had once been stashed in his fathers private library, he understood that it might not survive the test of time, but why did this particular part of the page have to suddenly go missing?  
  
After dinner, Harry had left Ron and Hermione on the second floor and climbed the stairs to the 3rd floor storage room. Malfoy was already there and didn't turn to look at him. He muttered something that sounded like 'hi' to him and shoved a page of directions and a few thyme plants towards him. Harry sat down and began to chop up the thyme.   
  
The silence between the two was rather unsettling since the two had actually begun to talk on civilized terms. "Did-did I do something wrong?" Harry asked suddenly without really thinking, a habit that he had a lot lately.  
  
Malfoy shook his head,"No, you didn't do anything wrong." he said still not looking at him. He dumped something into the pot that looked like chopped up shrivelfig.   
  
"Are you sure?" Harry asked just trying to be sure that nothing between them had suddenly changed. He felt it though, something in the air was different, a certain electrical force that didn't seem to be there before. He sighed and added some of the thyme to the cauldron and dropped his hands onto the table with a thud. Malfoy didn't look up, he just eyed him from the corners of his eyes.  
  
The silence was killing him as well. He just wanted to reach out and touch him, make a sort of connection that those two have never had before. Make things between them alright. He knew, however, that this wasn't by his own accord, this was the oil.   
  
He suddenly realized that he felt tuned into Harry, he felt as if he could tell what he was thinking, what he was feeling and what he wanted. He knew that he couldn't however, and if he was, this was an effect of the oil that he hadn't taken into consideration, well more like a effect that wasn't mentioned in the book, unless it was on the part of the page that was ripped out. If only he had that bloody page!  
  
The two worked in silence for almost two hours. Once they added the nights ingredients, the two stood, gathered their things and looked at eachother for the first time tonight.  
  
Malfoy had a certain look in his eyes, something that Harry had never seen before. The air between them seemed to sizzle, with either anticipation or another force that neither of them had considered. "I better get going, I need to get back to the dorm, work on a last minute assignment." Harry said.  
  
Malfoy nodded his head, suddenly, he felt a tugging all around his body, and a deep rooted attraction to Harry that seemed to be tugging on every fiber of his being. Without warning, Malfoy stepped forward and pressed his lips to Harry's in a rushed movement. Harry jumped back,"What the hell?"  
  
Malfoys eyes were wide, Harry couldn't tell the emotion they were showing, but it looked like cross between shock and horror. "I-I think I have to go." Malfoy said pulling his school cloak tight around himself. He left the room in a hurry and walked down the hallway as fast as he could without running.   
  
"What is going on Malfoy?" Harry called after him. Then, the realization of what just happened had sunk in. I have just been kissed by Draco Malfoy. Why the hell did he kiss me?  
  
He tried to turn his mind of to what happened, and somehow, he found the strength to do so. He pulled his own cloak tight around him, shut the storage room door and ran to the Gryffindor tower. He looked around the common room quickly, and when he saw no sight of Hermione or Ron, he ran to the dorm, got dressed for bed, and hurried under the covers quickly. He hoped, that in dreams, he could forget what had just happened.  
  
Draco was reluctant to go to breakfast the next morning, like Harry himself ( he wasn't sure how he knew this information, but he did). He had been up half the night, pacing the common room, and several times, Crabbe and Goyle tried to get him to bed, but he yelled at them, almost waking up most of the dorm and they stormed off into the darkness.  
  
While he was pacing the floor, his mind came up with a plan, almost instantly. He wasn't sure if it was a concious thing, or an unconcious one, as he wasn't trying to cook up anything. At one point, his mind just said, that he had to do something about what happened, and then it told him exactly what he was going to do.   
  
He was going to tell Harry, he was going to ask for his help, and this would all be solved.  
  
Harry found breakfast the next morning a dreaded event. It didn't help that Ron had brought up the fact he was talking in his sleep again,"Malfoy do something to you last night while working on the project?" He asked taking a drink of his pumpkin juice.  
  
Harry choked on his pumpkin juice, and spit some out,"What?" he asked while trying to clean up most of the mess.  
  
"You were talking in your sleep again, saying something to Malfoy about not doing something. I just thought he did something, you know, the way you were talking, it sounded like he did."  
  
"N-no, he didn't do anything. He's been placid lately, you know that." Harry said busying himself with his eggs.   
  
"If you say so, Harry." he said, and then he left.  
  
Hermione was left sitting at the table now, a huge book outstretched beside her. She was silently reading to herself as her lips moved forming the words. "Hermione, what are you reading?"  
  
She looked up almost at once and blinked,"Oh, um, it's a book that has all we need to know about our potion."  
  
"What's wrong with Ron?"  
  
"_Ronald_." she said in a manner that clearly said a fight had taken place,"has refused to do any extra work on this potion. He seems to think that working on it is rather stupid, as Snape won't pass us anyway." she was mocking him now.  
  
"Well, you know," Harry began, instantly realizing that this was a mistake, but it was too late to stop now,"Snape has it in for all of us, and he doesn't always give us high marks, even though we deserve them."  
  
Hermione was up out of her seat at once and slamming the book shut,"Fine. Fine! If you agree with Ronald, I guess that means I'll have to leave the table early today." She jammed the book into her bag and stormed off through the tables.  
  
As he watched her pass, he saw Malfoy stealing a sideways glance at him, slightly smirking.  
  
As he entered the Great Hall today, he wondered how he was going to get Harry by himself. His mind reeled over this until it came up with no more ideas. However, he was overjoyed when Weasley left the Gryffindor table earlier than usual, and he was really overjoyed to see Granger storm off scowling at something Harry had obviously said.   
  
He didn't have to think anymore. He simply had to leave before Harry, find a quiet corner, grab him, and sort this whole mess out. Harry began to look alittle uneasy sitting by himself, Malfoy quickly stood from the table, when Harry wasn't looking in his direction and left the Great Hall. He stood in the dark corner behind a suit of armor. As soon as Harry was out in the hallway, he would grab him.  
  
Harry left the table right behind Ginny, who was conversing with a giddy Ravenclaw over a boy who was a few feet in front of them. The Ravenclaw boy turned around, and the girls shrieked and ran up the stairs quickly. The Ravenclaw boy turned around and made his way to the Ravenclaw dorms. Harry was ok walking by himself, but he found that having no one to talk too while going to tower was a rather boring event.  
  
Before his mind had time to register anything else about what had happened in the Great Hall, a arm shot out from the darkness and pulled him into the corner behind a suit of squeaky armor.  
  
Harry's heart began to pound quickly, he began to tremble slightly. He heard a rustle of the person who had pulled him into the corner, then the whisper of "Lumos" and the tip of a wand igniting.  
  
Once Harry's eyes adjusted to the darkness, his mouth dropped open, eyes became wide,"_Malfoy_?"  
  
"We need to talk." he said in a whisper. He was serious.   
  
"You bloody _bet_ we need to talk." Harry answered.


	9. Help

**A/N: Longest chapter yet. I hope it answers some questions that a few people left me in the reviews. Draco isn't going to a teacher for help. This chapter explains why not. This is way more interesting. I'm not following how Draco would act in the stories, ok guys?

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Both boys stood still staring at eachother in what little light they had. Harry seemed to be seething, Draco showed no emotion,"What the hell happened last night?"  
  
"I am trying to tell you Potter."  
  
"Well, tell me now! Why the hell did you-" he leaned closer to Draco and whispered,"kiss me last night? What are you playing at?"  
  
"I'm not playing at anything. It was a mistake, and I'd be happy to tell you but-"  
  
Harry didn't wait for Draco to finish, he cut him off,"I don't know what you're doing, but I don't enjoy being kissed by my mortal enemy in the storage room."  
  
"If you would-" Draco began and Harry once again cut him off.  
  
"What the hell gave you the idea to just kiss me all of a sudden? I honestly don't know about you anymore."  
  
Tired of being shut up when he had something to say, Draco clamped his hand over Harry's mouth,"Shut up for once and you might learn something. We can't do it here. Too many people walking by." he said nodding his head in the direction of a group of passing third years. "Meet me tonight, in the storage room. I'll tell you everything you need to know." his hand had left his mouth now, and Harry was looking at him through narrowed eyes.  
  
"What is going to make me believe, this isn't some sort of joke?" He asked leaning up against the wall.  
  
Draco sighed and stole a glance at the floor,"Nothing, but if you want to know, come. "  
  
"We don't even have to work on our potion tonight." Harry said still unsure of whether or not to show up.  
  
"I know, and that's not why you're coming. If you want to know show up, if you don't want to know, don't show up, and I'll figure out what to do about this, by myself. "  
  
"What?"  
  
"Decide what you want to do. I'll understand if you don't want to though." He started to leave the corner, said 'nox' and the wand tip went out. Harry was still standing there, very confused.  
  
"Same time as always?" he called from the bottom of the stairs. Draco slowly turned to him and shook his head. Then, he made his way down the stone steps and towards the Slytherin Dorm.

Harry had the hardest time trying to get out of the Gryffindor Tower that night. Ron and Hermione were still bickering, and when Harry said he had to go meet Draco to work on the potion, Ron got mad, his ears turned bright red and he stomped up the stairs to the boys rooms. Hermione shrugged and pulled out another book on potions and began to read.  
  
Just as he was about to pass through the portrait, Colin Creevy stopped him by taking a few pictures, and talking really fast about what he just saw Luna Lovegood and Neville doing in the hallway. Harry just backed up slowly, inch by inch as Colin tried to give him the best description of what happened. Harry still isn't sure what he saw however, because the words were flying out of his mouth.  
  
He finally got away from Colin and slowly made his way through the dimly lit halls and up the stairs of which all the paintings were yelling things at him. One woman with a baby, decided that Harry had awoke him, and that to solve this problem, she had to scream obscenities at him until she could see him no longer.  
  
Harry didn't know what he expected to see when he reached the storage room, but what he did see, surprised him. Draco was sitting there, on the table, one leg resting on the floor, staring out the window. Harry stood watching him from the doorway for a few minutes before he stepped inside. Draco looked up at him,"I didn't think you'd come."  
  
Harry grinned,"I had to see what this was all about. It's not every day, Draco Malfoy wants to tell Harry Potter about something."  
  
Draco sort of grinned and then said,"You know, you didn't have to."  
  
Harry sighed and took a seat,"Just tell me what this is all about. If you're going to stall, I could have stayed in the common room and listen to Ron and Hermione bicker all night long."  
  
"And that is better than talking to me?" Draco asked cocking his head to the side.  
  
"Tell me. Last night, you kissed me, and I know that's not something we do often."  
  
Draco sighed and stood from the table, walking to the window,"Ok, this is going to sound really odd, and I don't know exactly how to say this, so I'll just go right ahead and say," he took a deep breath,"I'm under the influence of Essence of Aphrodite oil."  
  
Harry's eyes went wide,"What? You took it?"  
  
"No, Remember on Friday when you were picking up something from the floor and I was cussing? Well I spilled the oil. I walked to the shelf to get a pair of dragon hide gloves, tripped and my hand went right into the oil."  
  
"Is that why?"  
  
"I kissed you? Yes. I did some research about it, it really is as powerful as everyone claims. The first person I saw, after the oil was on my hands, was you, that means, I'm in love with you."  
  
"By your-"  
  
"Not by freewill. I don't love you, I'm in love with you. There's a difference."  
  
"I don't see it."  
  
There was a pause,"Well there is a difference, now, if you excuse me, I am going to leave." Draco said trying to move past Harry.  
  
He grabbed a handful of his robes,"No, you obviously asked me here for another reason. Not to just tell me about this problem, so you aren't going to leave, until you tell me what else it is you want."  
  
Draco's eyes were wide, he pulled away from Harry and brushed himself off and crossed his arms,"There is nothing else."  
  
"If I didn't know any better, you sounded like you needed help with this earlier. " Harry moved to block the doorway when Draco looked like he was about to run. "What have you found out about this so far."  
  
Draco sighed and took a seat,"It's like the Imperius curse. Pretty soon, I won't know the difference between what I want, and what the potion is forcing upon me. Pretty soon, it will have taken me over completely. I found a section about it in one of my books, but the thing is, the rest of the page was missing. I have no idea how to stop it."  
  
"Go to Snape, or, or Madam Pomfrey."  
  
"No, you don't understand. I am supposed to be the epitome of perfection. Since my father is in Azkaban, I can't bring anymore shame to the family, this would get all over soon enough. It would get back to my father, I cannot do that, Potter!" his pale face had a tint of red to it for a change.  
  
"What can I do?" Harry asked feeling concerned. He may not get along with him all the time, but being under the confines of a love oil cannot be a good thing. He would help in anyway possible. Afterall, Harry was present when the accident happened, he felt that he somehow should have been able to prevent it.  
  
Draco sighed, defeated,"Help me search for books. There really isn't anything else we can do."  
  
Harry shook his head,"I'm sure we'll find something. It'll be alright, really, it will be."  
  
"I'm not sure about that." Draco moved to the door now and Harry moved aside, his hand was on the knob now.  
  
"Why did you tell me?"  
  
"I thought you had the right to know." Draco replied.  
  
"You didn't have to tell me you know." Harry said.  
  
"I don't know why I did then."  
  
Draco was standing in the hall now, and Harry followed,"You aren't lying to me, are you?"  
  
"Why would I lie about something like this?"  
  
"You tell me." Harry said,"You've lied to me about stuff before, gotten me into lots of trouble too."  
  
"I said you didn't have to help. You obviously don't care, I don't even know why I told you." He said and began to walk off again.  
  
"I'll help. Just promise me, that you aren't lying."  
  
"I-I'm not, and you have to promise me something too." He said in a whisper that Harry barely caught.  
  
He nodded,"I promise."  
  
"Don't tell anyone."  
  
"I won't."Harry lay in bed that night, replaying everything exactly as it had gone down in the storage room. Draco. Love oil. In love with Harry. The words had swirled around in his mind until he thought that having a pensive around would be really beneficial right now. He was at a loss however, on how he was going to help him. He said he had found some things, but the page on what he needed to know was missing. What they did need however, was probably in the restricted section, and not too many teachers wrote notes for that section, unless it was really necessary.  
  
_"I'll help. Just promise me, that you aren't lying."  
  
"I-I'm not, and you have to promise me something too." He said in a whisper that Harry barely caught.  
  
He nodded,"I promise."  
  
"Don't tell anyone."  
  
"I won't."_  
  
Those words haunted him until he decided that he couldn't keep this to himself. He was going to tell the one person that knew more about everything than anyone he knew. He just hoped Hermione wouldn't think he was crazy.After dinner on Monday evening, when Ron had stormed off because of something Hermione had said, he launched his attack, "Hermione, can we talk for a moment? It's sort of important."  
  
She studied him for a second through narrowed eyes,"What is this about?"  
  
"It's just, really important,"Harry said with increased urgency,"I sort of need your help with something."  
  
She slowly stood from the table,"Let's go the library, hardly anyone is there anymore."  
  
Hermione sat at a table close to the back of the library while she watched Harry pace back and forth for a few minutes,"So, what is this about?"  
  
He took a deep breath,"It's sort of a complicated thing, and well you are going to say I'm crazy for agreeing for this, but, you're the only one that I know can help me."  
  
"Get on with it Harry." she said growing slightly impatient.  
  
He took a deep breath again and proceeded to tell her everything Draco had told him the night before. Her eyes grew wide and her brow creased as she thought about what he had just said.  
  
"And you believe him?" she asked disbelieving him. "This is Malfoy Harry, not Ron. Why would you?"  
  
"I was in the room with him Mione, I heard something fall onto the table. I saw his feet as he tripped. I have no reason not to believe him."  
  
Hermione moved in her seat a bit,"I have a bad feeling about this Harry. I just...something just doesn't feel right."  
  
"What is that?"  
  
"I don't know, but it's something."  
  
Harry took a seat and studied her carefully,"Will you help?"  
  
"Why did you agree to help him?"  
  
"I feel responsible, I was there with him."  
  
"You didn't do it." She said picking at the table.  
  
"I know, but I agreed, and I can't back out now."  
  
She sighed a deep sigh and looked him in the eyes, Harry knew she was going to say yes,"I have a free week. Our potion needs a dormant period, but after this week, I don't think I can help you anymore. Get with Malfoy, get the names of the books he checked. I'll start where he left off, but this doesn't mean that you aren't going to help too. Malfoy is as well. I am not doing this by myself, because I'm not the one that agreed to help him."  
  
"You agreed to help me." He said leaning forward.  
  
"I know, but there is a difference.""You told _Granger_?" Malfoy said, anger rising.  
  
Harry had sent him an owl as soon as he got done talking to Hermione. Malfoy was prompt with a response and agreed to meet him in the storage room. Now he was standing, hand poised in mid-air, staring Harry down like he would stare down his prey,"Yes! She's the smartest person I know and I know she'll be able to help us find a cure!"  
  
"That's not the point! You told someone and you said you wouldn't!" He shouted.  
  
Harry was beginning to get angry himself,"Listen, do you want help or not? If you do, Hermione can help, if you don't, forget you ever told me, forget I told Hermione and go back to being in love with me!" Harry shouted back.  
  
Malfoy looked shocked, he took a few steps back as if he had been punched, he clutched his head,"Fine." he said as if in pain,"Fine, but she better prove to be as smart as you say she is, because I don't think I can take much more of this."  
  
Harry was confused. Something else must be happening with the oil. "What do you mean?"  
  
Malfoy had taken a seat by now, still clutching his head, he spoke slowly,"It's getting worse. Every emotion you feel, if it's powerful enough, I feel. It makes me sick. You were angry just now. I felt it."  
  
He was angry, Harry had to admit, and seeing Draco like this worried him. His skin was really pale, his eyes were almost like ice. Harry reach out to touch him, he was as cold as ice,"I'm sorry," he truly was.  
  
Draco didn't pull away at first, he looked at Harry, and slowly moved,"It's not your fault." Draco began to feel that familar tugging around his body again, before you know it, he lunged at Harry, their lips meeting once again. Draco tried to deepen the kiss, but Harry pulled away,"Er."  
  
"I'm sorry." Draco said at once.  
  
Before Harry had the chance to say that it wasn't his fault, Draco had bolted, leaving only the faint smell of his exspensive cologne. 


	10. Muggle Treatment

**A/N: Sorry it took so long for this chapter to get put up, I've been sorta busy this month so that's why.**

**_jacks lil gurl_: Exactly what is a 'dumass'? A new animal species perhaps? Something not yet discovered I'm guessing. If you are going to insult someone, the least you can do, is type and insult without capitals, without spelling and grammar mistakes and without petty insults such as 'gaywad'. I do have a problem with you, I tried to contact you, but you never responded. Afraid of confrontation I'm guessing. Grow up, get a life. No one is holding a gun to your head and telling you to read this, there are warnings that say this is slash, and you read it, no reason to insult me. I suggest you take a lesson in humanity, and quite a few English classes. Oh, and I do know what AIM is, I suggest you teach what AIM means to computer illiterate people. Have a nice day...SOMEWHERE ELSE. That is all.**

**Enjoy the chapter and review review review!!

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Hermione and Harry were stressed. On top of all the school work, helping Draco try to solve this problem was just pushing them over the edge. It didn't help however, that the library seemed to be empty of books that explained or highlighted love potions.  
  
Hermione rubbed her temples,"Nothing Harry. There is nothing here!" she slammed the book shut and stood to pace the room.  
  
Harry leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes,"This school seems to have books on everything else, but they can't carry anything on love potions. This is crazy."  
  
Hermione was at the table again,"What did you say was the name of the book that he found something in?" She leaned on the table, bushy hair falling all around her face.  
  
Harry pulled a worn piece of parchment from his robes,"Potions, Oils and Brews- All you want to Know by Melinda Goodock." Harry said the words as if he had come to know them over the past few days.  
  
"Harry, this is Friday. This week is almost over. We haven't found anything, Ron is angry at the both of us, and we are stressed. From what you said, that book came from his fathers library, I don't think Hogwarts is going to carry a book like that in it's library."  
  
"Well, we haven't checked the Restricted Section."  
  
She gathered her things,"You need a note, we don't have one."  
  
"I'm sure Lupin or someone would give us one."  
  
"This is a oil we are talking about, that falls under the classification of potions. You know Snape won't give you a note. Malfoy should be doing this. It's his problem, he should go and ask someone for a note."  
  
Harry rested his head on his hands. He was so tired, late nights with Malfoy trying to figure out what's going on, late nights in the common room reading through all the books they managed to take from the library,late nights with Hermione brainstorming possible ideas and late nights with Ron were starting to take their toll on him. "He's too proud to get a note from anyone. "  
  
Hermione sighed heavily,"Well if he's too damned proud to get a bloody note, maybe we shouldn't be waisting our time to help him." She threw her bag over her shoulder and stormed from the library. Harry didn't bother to call after her. She needed sleep, just like he did. He'd let her go and she'd be in a better mood in the morning, then they'd finish their conversation.  
  
Harry was on his way out of the library when Malfoy stepped out of the shadows,"Did you find anything?" he asked, almost sorrowful.  
  
"No, I'm sorry. We cannot find anything. You'd be far better off going to your father and asking about the book, or find another." Harry said avoiding his gaze.  
  
"Maybe I should just give up, let it consume me. At this rate, since you arent finding anything, it probably will just consume me." He said in a sorrowful tone that said he had given up, and Harry wasn't one to let anyone give up on anything.  
  
"Don't say that." Harry said taking a few steps forward. Without realizing, he reach out his hand and touched Draco gently on the arm. Draco lowered his head and looked at the source of the touch. His eyes were narrowed in complete misunderstanding. He wasn't sure why Harry had suddenly changed his tone, something in his touch said something had changed. "We will work this out." he said.  
  
"It's no use Harry. This thing is taking me over, slowly, second by second as we stand here right now. Every second that goes by, this thing claims more and more of me," his eyes were shiny with tears. He took several steps back, away from Harry, as if he was afraid that standing there would make him do something stupid,"I don't think I can take this anymore." The tears were silenty streaming down his pale cheeks,"I can't keep putting up with this." he backed away completely, turned and broke into a run, he left Harry standing there confused and hurt.  
  
At breakfast on Saturday morning, Harry explained what had happened when he encountered Draco in the emtpy hall outside of the library. Hermione listened intently and rubbed her temples,"I'm not sure you should spend time alone with him anymore."  
  
Harry raised and eyebrow and shook his head,"What are you talking about?" He said taking a swig of pumpkin juice to keep himself from yelling at her.  
  
"He seems unstable. We don't know anything about this oil. We aren't sure what he's liable to do under it's influence. I'm afraid for you safety." She said avoiding his gaze.  
  
"He hasn't tried anything yet, except for a few kisses, and a few kisses is something I can handle."  
  
"What if he tries something else? Come on Harry, be logical about this."  
  
"I am being logical about this. I trust him right now. He's different, I don't think he'd pull anything dumb."  
  
"This is Malfoy, the one that has cursed you in the halls, tried to get you in trouble several times with all of the teachers, I don't trust him and I can't believe you are so eager to do so." She said in a annoyed tone that Harry knew all too well.  
  
Harry knew that she always had his best interests at heart, Hermione was a good person deep down, but she never gave him room to choose things for himself. Harry felt strongly about this, even though he wasn't sure why. He wanted to be free to make his own mistakes, and he felt that Hermione was trying to mother him too much, that he couldn't make his own mistakes.  
  
"I know you care for me Hermione, but sometimes, you have to do, what you have to do. I feel that I have to help him, I trust him enough, and I can take care of myself."  
  
She signed deeply,"I know that Harry, but if you are going to spend time alone with him, atleast be careful."  
  
He stood from the table,"I will. I'm going to go look over some of those books that I took to the room." He turned and left abruptly leaving Hermione watching him go.  
  
She sat alone thinking about this whole mess. This was a huge mess, something bigger than Voldemort could ever be. She couldn't understand why Harry was so dead set on helping one of his enemies. All she could do was question him, as if she had tried to stop him, he would just blow up at her and she didn't need an angry Harry on her hands.  
  
She tugged on her sweater noticing the how hot the Great Hall had become. She was sweating now and she loosened her robe a bit trying to cool herself off. Suddenly her mind clicked.  
  
_Sweating.  
  
Oil absorbed through the skin.  
  
Detox.  
_  
It just might work. She jumped from the table and ran from the Great Hall colliding with Harry. She was panting,"Harry, I have an idea. Get Malfoy and meet me in the library in 20 minutes. I think I'm on to something!"  
  
Harry watched her run towards the library, robes billowing behind her. He never did quite understand her, but he trusted her. He found Malfoy and headed towards the library.  
  
Harry and Draco stared at Hermione like she was an interesting specimen under a microscope,"It's a muggle treatment," she began, "but given what happened, I think it just might work. It makes sense and it's worth a try."  
  
Both boys stared at her in amasement,"What is it?" Draco asked.  
  
She sat down and crossed her hands in front of her,"Detox."  
  
Both boys raised their eyebrows.


	11. The Plan

**A/N: Yeah, I know, really short chapter, but I wanted it to end where it did cause I want the next one to be sorta long and explain some things.**

**Ok, I don't feel like explaining to all of these reviewers who keep asking the same question. I have a message board, link posted in my profile, that I'd like everyone to visit, register and become a member of and discuss whatever you'd like! The answer to your question is in the News Section of the board. Please read it!

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Hermione pushed a book towards the two dumfounded boys,"Detoxification usually happens in the muggle world when a person is addicted to illegal substances such as drugs, or addicted to perfectly legal substances such as alcohol. The person spends usually 30 days or longer in a treatment facility in detox until the substance is completely out of their system. We are going to do a shorter verision of detox, but it should work just the same."  
  
Draco raised his eyebrows,"This is a muggle thing, I'm not a muggle, in case you haven't noticed."  
  
"You're built exactly like a muggle. Except we have greater healing capablities than they do. If you don't want to try this, you can go to Madam Pomfrey right now and forget I said anything." Hermione said pulling the book back towards her and slamming it shut.  
  
Both boys jumped, Harry eyed her,"What exactly are you planning for this detox?" he asked curiously.  
  
Hermione stood hugging the book,"We have to use what we have. I got to thinking, since the oil was abosorbed through the skin, it's not exactly like a regular potion or oil which is usually drank. A lot of muggles go to places called spa's to get a steam bath, which helps cleanse the system of any impurities that may be there." she stopped talking and went down an aisle of book shelves to put the book back in its respectable place. She came back and sat on the edge of the table,"We don't exactly have what muggles use in spa's, but we can use sort of the same technology."  
  
Draco shifted in his seat a bit, and Hermione was the only one to take notice,"What exactly would that be?" Harry asked through narrowed eyes.  
  
"Showers." Hermione replied quickly. Both boys were confused now,"First, Draco would have to remove some, or all of his clothing, and then all the showers would be turned on, without any cold water. Then, Draco wouldn't have to do anything, he'd just have to sit there and wait it out. It might take several hours and several treatments, but I think this really has a possibility of working," she said proudly.  
  
Draco seemed to relax now realizing that the treatment didn't seem to be painful,"That's it, nothing more?" he asked.  
  
Hermione shook her head,"I know it doesn't seem like anything, but it works wonders in the muggle world." she said standing now.  
  
"What if it doesn't work?" Harry asked,"It might not work, we may have waited too long." he said.  
  
"I know it doesn't seem like much of a plan Harry, but it's the only plan we have at the moment. I think it sounds like a great plan."  
  
"I never said it didn't Hermione, I asked what would happen if it didn't work?"  
  
She sighed heavily,"Then we get another plan."  
  
-  
  
The trio didn't leave the library until they were kicked out, which happened to be around 9:00. Draco had walked ahead of Harry and Hermione, Hermione took the chance to grab Harry by the elbow and pull him back,"Harry don't go with him."  
  
"Why not? And why do you think I would in the first place?"  
  
"Because you've gotten utterly predictable in the past few days, and going with him, while he is half naked, while I'm guessing you would be too, is not the wisest thing."  
  
"I am guessing you are going with the same old 'he'll try and pull something' story aren't you?" he asked angry slightly rising.  
  
"Yes Harry. I still don't trust him and I don't think you should either."  
  
"He's different now Hermione, he's not the same old Draco Malfoy."  
  
"He's not because he's under the influence of a love oil and just happens to be in love with you." She said grip growing tighter on his arm.  
  
Harry brushed her off and took a few steps away from her,"Hermione, this is my life, can you please just let me live it for once?" He stepped backwards a bit,"Just let me figure this out for myself. You can't help me all the time, you can't play mother to me all the time, some things I need to do myself." Both were silent for a moment and then Harry turned to leave, leaving Hermione in tears.  
  
She was, after all, only trying to help.  
  
Harry wasn't sure what he had to figure out by himself, but it was something that was tugging at him for days now. Something that tugged and pulled at his mind while he lay awake in his bed. Something that haunted his dreams, night after night. He didn't tell anyone about it of course, because he wasn't exactly sure what this thing was, but once he knew, he wouldn't tell anyone untill he had it all sorted out.  
  
Harry made a quick stop in the boys dorm of the Gryffindor tower and grabbed a few towels. He ignored calls from friends and left without saying anything to anyone. Once he reached the Prefects bathroom on the 5th floor, he saw Draco there, leaning up against the wall. He smiled softly,"I was beginning to think you wouldn't show." he said standing upright.  
  
"Hermione didn't want me to, but I didn't want to leave you here alone," he said,"I'd feel bad if I did."  
  
Harry stepped forward and said the password, as he knew if from previous bouts of entering the prefects bathrooms, he motioned for Draco to come in as well, and he shut the door behind them.


	12. A Change Begins

**A/N: Still kind of a short chapter, and once again, I left everyone hanging. After this chapter, things are going to start getting alittle odd for dear old Harry. I'm not sure how, so I can't give away much, but it's going to happen, change is afoot. The question is, is Harry ready?

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Hermione made her way back to the Gryffindor tower quickly. There, she paced the common room and finally settled down to work on some Astronomy homework that wasn't due for two weeks.  
  
Ginny spotted her sitting alone and came over to chat, but when Hermione said nothing, she left in a huff, stomping all the way up to her room. Seamus and Dean tried talking to her as well but the only thing she said was,"Where's Ron? Have any of you seen him this evening?"  
  
Finally deciding that her homework wasn't going to get done today, she shut the book and took to pacing the room again. She decided, after a good 20 minutes, that it was time to tell Ron what was going on. She had a feeling that Harry could be in trouble, and who better to help her help Harry than his bestfriend? She just hoped that Ron wouldn't fly off the handle and listen for once, that way she could tell him everything, instead of him hearing only part of the story and then going off to pound Malfoy into a pulp.  
  
She saw flaming red hair enter the portrait hole and she knew Ron had finally entered the tower for the night. She ran through the chairs and jumped in front of him,"Ron, we need to talk."  
  
He looked at her through narrowed eyes and crossed his arms,"So, all of a sudden, you want to talk to me?" he asked through clenched teeth.  
  
"It's important. I-I, I've promised Harry that I wouldn't tell you what we've been doing, but I can't anymore. I'm worried about him, about this whole thing and I need your help." She blurted all in one breath.  
  
His features softened,"Let's go sit down then."  
  
Once seated, Hermione told him the whole story, watching his facial expressions change from time to time. Once Hermione was finished her story, he scratched his head and leaned forward,"Ok, so Malfoy is under the influence of Essence of Aphrodite, and Harry has been alone, with him, trying to fix this?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Is he a nutter?" Ron asked.  
  
"It looks that way."  
  
Both were quiet, the noises in the common room seemed to be background noise as the two were lost in their own thoughts. Ron shifted in his chair, pained expression playing across his face, he finally asked what was bothering him,"Does," he cleared his throat,"does Harry love him?"  
  
Hermione's eyes grew wide, she sighed not really knowing what to say,"I don't know."  
  
-  
  
Both boys stood staring at eachother in the dim prefects bathroom clutching their towels. Finally, Harry moved forward,"We should turn the showers on, and make sure the windows are closed."  
  
Draco shook his head and moved to the opposite end of the room and began to turn on the showers that Harry hadn't reached yet. He hadn't voiced his opinion that much on this matter, but he felt that this wasn't going to work. It didn't seem like a logical plan to him. Sure, Hermione was a very smart person, some would even call her clever, all of which Draco would never admit to, but he wasn't sure if this was one of her best ideas.  
  
He watched Harry turn on the last of the showers, and stood there, waiting for him to walk back over to him. He did,"I-I guess we should change, only way it's really going to work." Harry said pushing up his glasses as they were starting to fall down his face.  
  
Harry gathered his towel and pair of shorts, and entered a empty bathroom stall. Draco followed suit, once changed, they met up with eachother again. Silence followed as the pair continued to stair at eachother. Draco tried not to watch him, he was half naked for gods sakes. The oil was kicking in full force, hormones were kicking in with it. Sweat was beginning to gather on Harry's chest, and Draco wanted to lick it off of him. He shook his head. He had to get this off of his mind. He was here to stop this.  
  
Harry noticed Draco looking at him, so he quickly searched his mind for something that would break his concentration,"We are probably going to be here awhile," he said,"maybe we should over over here and sit down." he said motioning to a corner close to a shower. Draco nodded and the both went the corner and sat.  
  
They sat side by side, legs almost touching, until Draco suddenly stood,"I forgot, I have something for us, might help pass the time." he said walking over to a shelf that was situated beside the sinks. Draco got into a bag that Harry hadn't noticed early and pulled out two bottles of something, he walked back to Harry and handed him a bottle.  
  
Harry studied it for a moment,"Butterbeer? How on earth?"  
  
"I keep a supply in my room. Never know when I might get thirsty for something other than pumpkin juice." Draco opened his bottle and took a sip. "Go on, drink it. It's ok, I promise." he smiled lightly offering reassurance.  
  
Reluctantly, Harry opened his bottle of butterbeer, and tasted it slowly. He knew, that in his current state, Draco was likely to do anything to get Harry, but he didn't think, that he would actually harm him in anway. It was just Hermione's warnings that had him completely paranoid.  
  
"See, I told you it was fine."  
  
"Yeah, you did." Harry said, tension seeming to leave him now.  
  
The minutes ticked away slowly. The showers were doing their work though, because both boys were sweating profusely. Harry's always messy hair clung to his forehead, and sometimes fell into his eyes, and any atempt to clear it away was useless.  
  
Draco's hair was no longer light and bouncy, but limp and quite damp, as if he had just gotten out of the shower.  
  
Several empty butterbeer bottles littered the floor around them. Draco apparently brought just about his entire private stash. Whether it was the extreme heat that was starting to acculmulate in the room, or the extreme amounts of butterbeer the two had drunk, they seemed to be more loose, less likely to worry about what the other would think, Draco started the conversation.  
  
"You know, this whole oil thing has changed everything."  
  
"How so?" Harry asked confused.  
  
"You and I. We're not the same anymore. Nothing is the same."  
  
"Well, after this is all over, everything can go back to how it was. We can be enemies again, hate eachother, curse eachother in the hallway."  
  
"That's not what I mean," he said with a heavy sigh.   
  
Harry leaned closer to Draco,"then what do you mean?"  
  
Draco stood and paced for a moment before stopping,"I'm not sure, but it's all different. Everything is."  
  
Harry sat down the current bottle of butterbeer,"And."  
  
"I'm falling to pieces and I don't want to."  
  
Harry shook his head slightly,"What are you talking about?"


	13. A Sudden Realization

**A/N: Another cliff hanger. Sorry everyone. Now, you can come to your own conclusions about what's going on. I tried not to really give anything away, but, I tried to, you know? Someone is going to discover what's going on in later chapters...not going to give anything else away. Leave a review with what you think is going on, I'm actually interested in finding out where you guys think it's going. Oh and in one of the last paragraphs, I couldn't, for the life of me, think of another 6th year Gryffindor, so I used Ginny Weasley. Nothing special about her..just a place holder really.**

* * *

Both Ron and Hermione took to pacing the Gryffindor common room after Harry hadn't returned for half an hour. Ron ran his fingers through his flame red hair and stopped pacing for a moment. Hermione stopped too, but only to watch him as he seemed to be wondering something. "Should we go look for him?" he asked.  
  
Hermione rung her hands and paced again for a moment,"I don't know! I told him not to go! Draco could be doing anything to him right now."   
  
Ron sat down again,"Well, has he tried anything?"  
  
Hermione didn't understand him at first,"Oh, nothing big. The fact remains however, that this is Malfoy."  
  
"I know, Hermione. We can't really do anything. I'm sure he can take care of himself." Ron had a feeling that Harry could, and from the sounds of it, Ron seemed to be catching onto something Hermione didn't. He'd let her figure it out on her own.  
  
-  
  
Draco paced again,"I don't want to fall to pieces." _I just want to sit and stare at you.  
_  
"That's not helping me much Draco." Harry said taking a sip of his butterbeer.  
  
Draco sat down to keep himself from pacing, but he didn't look at Harry,"This oil, it's like my former self is falling to pieces, I don't want to fall to pieces. My former self is being replaced by this new Draco Malfoy, one whose thoughts consist only of you. My mortal enemy. Every single waking moment is you. All about you. My dreams are haunted by you. You don't understand what it's like for me." he said placing his head in his hands.  
  
Harry didn't answer him, he felt like saying he knew how he felt, because he did. He couldn't place a word to it yet, something about the relationship with Draco had changed. He considered him a friend now, a good friend. Even if he was nice just because he was under the influence of a love oil. "I understand," he blurted rather suddenly.  
  
"No, you don't." Draco said standing again. "You don't understand anything. You are Harry Potter. The freaking boy-who-lived and I am nothing but Draco Malfoy, the boy who gets his way because of his good for nothing father!"  
  
Harry stood now,"You can change that. Your father is in Azkaban, you can stop being evil and start being civil. Get what you want the right way, instead of through the money your father has."  
  
"You just don't understand Harry. My life is etched in stone, I am supposed to be like this forever. You are supposed to be who you are forever." _And you'd never love someone like me.  
_  
"Nothing is etched in stone, Malfoy. You can change everything, starting now. This oil has been sort of a blessing..it's changed things, between us, we aren't enemies anymore, we're friends. We haven't fought with eachother in weeks. This is how it should be." Harry said hopefully trying to lighten up this situation.  
  
"It should have been like this from the beginning. You refused my friendship Harry. You said,'I can tell the right sort for myself thanks.' You blew me off, when I wanted to be friends. It is not my fault." He said bluntly.  
  
Harry moved his mouth by no words came out. It was true. Harry had refused Draco's hand in friendship. Harry tried to contrast this by telling himself that he did have a good reason. Well, he did have a good reason. Draco was being mean, making fun of his new friend Ron, and he had no right to do so.   
  
As Harry had a fight with his mind, Draco moved across the room and leaned up against the far wall, arms crossed,"You don't understand anything Harry. Nothing. " He stared at him for a moment through hooded eyes. Harry tried not to meet his gaze, but couldn't help it.   
  
"I'm trying to." he said quietly and so quickly Draco didn't have time to catch it.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm trying to understand you, but you won't let me." Harry said now looking at the floor. He wiped a streak of sweat from his forehead and looked up at Draco, who seemed to be confused.  
  
Draco stood straight up, gaze narrowed. Before he could speak again, Harry jumped up. Suddenly, it made sense. Everything had clicked for him at that moment.   
  
He grabbed his clothes and changed quickly, drying off the best he could. "Harry?" Draco asked following his each and every move.  
  
Harry didn't respond however, he was too busy trying to get out of the room. He needed to get out. Away.  
  
"Harry! Wait! What is wrong?" Draco called after him as he raced down the hall.  
  
-  
  
Harry threw the towel over his shoulder,"No, no, no!" He said trying to convince himself. He took the stairs two at a time and found himself in front of the portrait whole before he knew it. He had no idea how he arrived there however.  
  
When he got inside, both Ron and Hermione jumped up to greet him. "Harry? What is it?" Hermione asked suddenly realizing that something was wrong.  
  
"Did he try something mate?" Ron asked stepping forward. All reasons to be mad at him were suddenly forgetton as he tried to make sure Malfoy didn't pull one of his old stunts.  
  
"Harry?" Hermione asked again, hand on his arm.  
  
"No, I'm fine. He didn't try anything. It's just, I-I need to be alone."  
  
He started to walk off, Hermione ran to him,"Harry, are you sure he didn't try anything?"  
  
"I'm sure. Nothing."  
  
"I can smell butterbeer. You've been drinking. _Drinking with Malfoy_? All the while under a love oil? Not bright Harry."  
  
"He didn't try anything!" he shouted this time, causing the few people still in the common room to look up at him. He pulled her close to him,"I need some time alone. Why won't you believe me when I tell you he didn't try anything?"  
  
"Because you've been drinking!" she shouted this time.  
  
Ron watched on from a safe distance, unsure whether to intervene or not. He decided, that for right now, he'd let the two talk, it seems they need too.  
  
Harry started up the stairs,"Where do you think you're going?" Hermione asked.  
  
Harry spun around, "I told you I _need_ to be alone! I need to think!"  
  
Hermione had a feeling she knew what he had to think about.  
  
-  
  
When Harry reached the dorm, he tried to be as quiet as possible, but since Neville was snoring so loudly, he didn't think that his little bumps wouldn't wake anyone anytime soon. He quickly dressed for bed and closed the curtains around his bed. He placed his head in his hands,"I'm just drunk. I am not really. I am _just _drunk." he kept repeating those lines to himself, hoping that he would convince himself.  
  
After an hour of convincing, he lay down beneath the covers. Ron came in a few moments later. Harry knew it was him because of the footsteps. It was weird that Harry even knew what they sounded like. Before long, he drifted off into a fitful sleep.  
  
Like it or not, Harry was going to face what he had been dreading head on.  
  
-  
  
Hermione quietly slipped into the 6 year girl dorms hoping not to wake anyone. Ginny was still awake however, reading a book by wandlight. She looked up, hoping it was the head of house, and sighed softly when she saw it was just Hermione. Hermione smiled weakly, dressed for bed, and laid down, closing the curtains.  
  
Her mind wasn't in sleep mode however, it came up with several ideas, and only one of them she liked. She would go see Lupin, ask to see his private stash of books, maybe she'd get lucky and find something useful. Lupin would surely let her borrow some of them. He had to have something that would help. She just knew that this situation was getting worse, well, with Harry especially now.   
  
She turned over and drifted off to sleep.


	14. Hermione's Discovery

**A/N: Get used to cliff hangers everyone, because, I believe that every chapter I post from now on will contain them. I gave you some things to work with in this chapter, it's not a lot, but it gives you more of a explanation. You'll get a full one later one...not sure how far that will be however. Please review! I see people adding the story to their favorites, and adding me to the author alert list, but no reviews from them! **

* * *

Harry had a restless night and didn't fall asleep until almost daybreak causing him to sleep late into the Sunday morning. Ron awake mid morning, took a quick peak in at his friend and decided to let him sleep it off. He figured that he also needed a lot of time to think. Hopefully he'd have things solved soon.  
  
Hermione was up early however. She was just leaving the Great Hall when Ron entered. She looked tired herself,"Can't talk, going to see Lupin." She said with a yawn.  
  
Ron stood, watching her leave before taking a seat beside Seamus and Dean.  
  
-  
  
Hermione slowly made her way to Lupin's study. She trudged on, yawning with every few steps. She was now wishing she had slept in a little later than she had. Lupin would surely be around all day, preparing for this weeks lessons, and she might be catching him at a bad time now. She was halfway there, and decided to continue however. Lupin was always in the mood to have students stop by, especially those eager to learn.  
  
She knocked on the door a few times. A quiet voice said "Come in" and she did so, slowly opening and shutting the squeaking door.  
  
"Ah, Hermione! Lovely to see you!" he said face lighting up at the prospect of one of his best students in for a visit. He stood now,"What can I do for you this lovely day?"  
  
She approached his desk, placing her hands onto the hard wood, "I was wondering if I could have a look at your books..you know, your private stash." she said lightly.  
  
The smile faded and then returned,"Of course, you're always welcome to look." He said sitting. He pointed his hand in the direction of his library, another door opened. "Is this about anything special?" he asked raising a delicate eyebrow.  
  
She shook her head quickly,"Oh no! Just some research. I was reading some books, as a bit of bedtime reading of course, when I came across a few things that interested me. I checked in the library, nothing on the subject there." Lupin was listening intently, she figured she had told him this much, she might as well go ahead and tell him the rest, as long as she gave nothing away, he should be none the wiser.  
  
"Go on." he said urging her.  
  
"Well, I was reading up on potions and oils. One of the oils that caught my attention the most was Essence of Aphrodite. I know it's a very potent oil, but what information the book gave me, seemed to be rather small. It pegged my interest and I'd like to learn more about it."  
  
Lupin was quiet for a moment, for a second, Hermione thought Lupin was going to tell her no, instead, he looked down at his parchment,"Is this about a potions assignment? I heard Snape gave a pair of students a potion making project containing the oil."  
  
"I must say, that first got me interested in the oil, but as I said before the reading is what caught my interest the most."  
  
Lupin cupped his hands under his chin and nodded,"You are welcome to look. You can ask me any questions as well."  
  
She nodded,"I'd like to look for myself first. You know how I am, if I can't find it, I will ask though."  
  
He smiled at her,"Of course. Happy hunting. Don't mind me, I'll be here most of the day."  
  
"No problem."  
  
When Lupin turned back to his papers without looking up, Hermione walked past his desk and into the major library, the one she never knew Lupin possessed. Surely, she though, this library would contain the answers that she was looking for.  
  
-  
  
Harry awoke with a start. He sat up slowly, he found himself in the middle of a horrible cold sweat. The previous nights happenings slowly drifted back to him followed by the dreams he had. They all had the same theme, one that Harry refused to deciphor at this point. He'd get dressed, go to breakfast, and try to put this behind him.  
  
-  
  
Hermione stepped completely inside the massive library and took a good look around before going any further. Shelves upon shelves, upon shelves lined the walls. A high ceiling accented the place with several large candle holders spread throughout the room. In the far corner, sat a desk and a chair. A couch, and a big plush chair sat directly across from that. A perfect place for her to get lost the entire day.  
  
Upon further inspection,she noticed Lupin had his very own card catalog. This was the perfect place to start.  
  
First, she pulled up a few cards containing information on potions and oils only. She made a trip out to Lupins desk to ask for a piece of parchment, a quill and a bottle of ink. She returned, wrote the book numbers down and then pulled up books on love oils and potions. She repeated the process and then pulled up books only on the Essence of Aphrodite oil. She was very happy to find two books on the subject.  
  
She went on a search, finding all the books on the subjects and put them in front of the plush chair. Once she had all of them, she sat down, began to read, ready to take notes.  
  
-  
  
When Harry got to the Great Hall, he found Ron still there, eating with Seamus. Dean had left to chase one of his romantic prospects. Harry didn't think twice about sitting down with him. Ron looked up and smiled at him,"Mornin'." He said drinking some pumpkin juice.   
  
Harry nodded,"Morning."  
  
Both were silent for a moment,"Are you feeling better?" Ron asked looking at him out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"A little. My head hurts though."  
  
"That's what happens." Ron muttered.  
  
"I know, my fault." Harry said filling up a plate with foods he was sure woudn't make him sick.  
  
Once again, both were silent,"Why didn't you tell me what was going on? I'm your best friend Harry." Ron sounded resentful and hurt.  
  
"Because, I was helping Draco Malfoy. You were mad at Hermione anyway, avoiding the both of us. I thought you would've gone and hexed him to death."  
  
"I probably would have." Ron said laughing.  
  
"That's why I didn't tell you. It's not like I didn't want to. " Harry continued, feeling as if he might as well tell it all,"You don't take kindly to Malfoy, and telling you, would only make you really mad at me, even more so than you are now."  
  
"I'm not really mad,"Ron said,"I'm hurt that you felt you couldn't tell me. Your best friend Harry. Unless you don't consider me your best friend anymore."  
  
Ron's words stung for a moment, Harry wasn't sure where to go with this. He felt that anything he said would just make matters worse. "Why do you even think that?!" Harry asked raising his voice more than he liked too.  
  
"Because, you couldn't tell me about what was going on! There are things you still aren't telling me Harry, I know you. Why?"  
  
Harry sighed and dropped his toast onto his plate,"Because I don't know where I stand." he said.  
  
-  
  
Hermione read the paragraph about love oils over and over again.   
  
_"Submission is the last part of the process in the action of love oils and potions. Signs of submission are easy. Unwillingness to try treatments that may release the effects of the oil or potion; doubts about any treatment process; a willingness to do anything for the person they love; and extreme depression."_  
  
"Well that makes sense." Hermione said outloud. Draco was currently experiencing all of those.   
  
She moved to the next book, which higlight more symptoms of submission, and the effects oils and potions may have on the victim. Once that book proved to be useless, Hermione moved onto the two books that were devoted to Essence of Aphrodite oil.  
  
The first few paragraphs were about things Hermione had already read in other sources, and what Draco had already informed her with. Other pages were case studies of the oil on victims, the victims, however, were never cured and either died a horrible death, at the hands of the caster, killed themselves, or were locked away.   
  
She turned the page and found some very useful information.  
  
_"Essence of Aphrodite oil is hardly used in pure love potions. It is considered, by most scholars and potion masters, as a oil used only in revenge cases. Considering what the cure is, using it only in pure love spells would defeat the entire purpose. There is, after all, only one cure."_  
  
She flipped through the entire book before actually stumbling upon the cure,"No. This is not good." she said.  
  
She put all the other books away and carried that book out to Lupins desk. She dropped it onto the surface and pushed it too him. He looked up at her through narrowed eyes, she pointed to the last paragraph on the page.  
  
"Is this the only cure for the oil?" She asked quickly.  
  
Lupin read the paragraph and looked up at her,"Yes of course, the only known cure for centuries."  
  
"And no one has been able to discover another?" She asked hopeful.  
  
"No, it's only used in revenge cases, as I'm sure you've found. Any other cure would be rather _silly_. It wouldn't make it so useful if you could cure it easily, would it?" he asked with a half smile.  
  
"No, I guess it wouldn't." Hermione started to walk back into the library, but turned,"Professor Lupin, would you mind, if I borrowed this book? I'd return it this week."  
  
"No, of course you may. I trust you to return it in the shape it's in."  
  
She nodded,"Thank you."  
  
She left Lupins study, saying a word of goodbye to him. She continued on, through the halls of students, and back up to the portrait whole where she found Neville, who had forgotten the password again. She said it for the both of them, and ignored the pleas of fellow friends to sit in her room to study the book again.  
  
No matter how many times she looked at it, it never changed, no matter how much she wished it would. She knew, that someone was going to walk away from this hurt.


	15. Of Admittance and Endings

**Ok, the cat is outta the bag, the cure is in this chapter. Sorry for the long wait, I decided to go ahead and give you everything in this chapter. The story is not over however. Things will wrap up in later chapters.**

* * *

As Hermione paced the floor of the common room, Harry left the Great Hall after breakfast and headed outside. Last night, he didn't really have time to think about what had been going on. His head, although hurting, was rather clear, and a little voice in the back of his head began to shout at him as he sat beneath a oak tree.

He pulled his knees up close to his body and hugged them, resting his chin on his right knee cap. So, he though,this is it. It's who I am. It's who he is. He closed his eyes, willing his mind to shut off, willing everything to just stop and leave him be. Deep down inside, he knew that he'd have to face it, and everything that he had tried to deny for so long.

He was in love with Draco Malfoy.

He wanted to wake up next to him every morning.

He wanted to be his everything. The only thing he thought about. The first thing he thought about when he woke up, and the last thing he thought about when he went to sleep.

Of course, he wanted this without the love potion. He wanted Draco free of a substance which was clouding his thinking, he wanted him to love him for what he truly was. He wanted him to truly want to kiss him without a potion running through his body that forced him to go after him. He just wanted him to love him.

How was he going to tell his friends?

Telling them was easier than he expected. After dinner that night, Harry willed Ron and Hermione to stay in the Great Hall after most of the students had cleared out, only leaving a handful of students who decided to do more socializing while working on homework, as working in the library ment not talking while working.

"Well,what do you want to tell us mate?"

Harry shifted at the table and looked down,"well, you two know that I'm gay and all and.."

Hermione cut him off,"You're stalling, just tell us, it can't be that bad, honestly."

He cleared his throat,"well, this whole Draco potion accident thing has made me realize something." He paused again,"I, I love him. I love Draco Malfoy."

Hermione gasped, as she knew what this meant, Ron's eyes grew as wide as bludgers. "Harry, you have no idea how wonderful this is!" Hermione said. She jumped up from the table and run through the room and no doubt, up to her room.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked looking at Harry.

"I have no idea."

Monday came like it always does, the boys were unusually quiet this morning, everyone was slowly putting their days clothes on and yawning. Seamus only threw pillows at some dorm mates instead of all of them. When he sat down, Dean threw a pillow at him that knocked him off his bed, as he had fallen asleep again. Everyone laughed and left him on the floor lightly snoring. Harry was going to leave him there, but decided that maybe he really should wake him up. So, he shook him, watched as he slowly opened one eye,"come on, breakfast is in a few minutes. Class starts in an hour."

"I know mate." he said and just lay there. Harry shook his head and went to breakfast. As he sat down, he stole a glance at the Slytherin table and realized that Draco was present this morning, he bore the trademark sneer upon his face, he wasn't even looking in his direction. Something was truly up.

This continued for a week, Draco was in the Great Hall every morning before breakfast, laughing and joking as he always was. His sneer was always the same, it almost was as if nothing had happened in potions. If that didn't tell Harry something was up, the way Draco treated him now surely did.

Draco went back to being mean to him. Every day that week, Draco got Harry in trouble with Snape. First he knocked a bottle of oil of Harry's table and tattled on him, then he ran into him as he was taking a vile of his latest project up to the table causing Harry to drop it, breaking the vile and causing a mess on the floor. As his luck would have it, the potion was already gone from his cauldron and he could not turn in anything.

When he mentioned something about this to Hermione, she became all flustered and would quickly change the subject, her subjects consisted of school work, the weather and things that were about anything about love, and Draco.

She knew something, he was sure of it.

By Friday, the whole mess was driving him mad. After dinner, while Hermione was in the common's room reading a book she borrowed from Lupin, Harry took a seat beside her and watched her until she decided to face him. "I know you know something. You know why Draco is himself again. I'd sure like to know."

She closed the book slowly and frowned, that meant she had tried to avoid telling him, for fear that she'd hurt his feelings. She took a deep breath,"Ok, I found the cure for the oil. I looked everywhere, the last place I looked was Professor Lupins private library. It took me a few hours, but I finally found two books on the soley on Essence of Aphrodite Oil. I borrowed the one that listed the cure. I read it over and over again, and realized that, someone would get hurt. I couldn't tell you. I had to let it play out on it's own. I figured, if and when you came to the realization, and it was over, you'd figure that Draco had lost interest, or given up, and you would drop it. Sadly, you have not."

Harry stared at her, blank expression up his face,"What are you talking about? What is the cure?"

Hermione looked down at the floor,"True love. The person who cast the spell has to love the person back. That is the only way the power of the oil can be broken. In your case, even though you did not cast any spell, you were in the room with him when it happened, you were thought of to be the caster. That is the reason this oil is only used in revenge cases. The person who casts the spell usually never loves the one under the spell, which eventually drives the other mad. It's the perfect revenge spell."

"So, just like that? It's over?"

She nodded,"When you told me you loved him, that's why I was happy. I knew that this curse would finally be broken, both of you would be spared, however, I realized that you would be hurt. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want to affect your judgement. I'm so sorry Harry."

He was angry,"You're wrong! That's not the reason! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I already told you!" Hermione shouted back. "Harry, just drop this, please. Let it be! It will never be. Never! Accept the fact and move on. You two are wrong for eachother. He will NEVER change for you, he will never change for anyone. He is who he is, and you are who you are."

"NO! I love him! You don't understand!"

"I understand that you are in a bad position Harry, but I am telling you the truth!" She then pulled a piece of parchment from the book she was reading and unfolded it. "Read this!" She said shoving it under his nose.

He grabbed the paper from her sharply and read over it's words several times. He let his arm fall to his side,"So, it's true then. It's over."

"There was nothing to begin with." Hermione said placing a arm around him,"I'm sorry Harry."

For a minute, he stood there, but then, he pushed her away and run out of the common room and down the stairs and through the school, only stopping when he reached the stairs that lead to the Slytherin dorms. He wasn't sure why he was there, but realized when he heard Draco talking loudly with Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy, he had to talk to him, he had to settle things.

As soon as Draco passed his hiding spot, he tapped him on the shoulder, he turned and stopped talking, realizing who was hiding. "Something wrong Draco?" Pansy asked.

"No love, just something I have to take care of. You three go on."

He watched them walk away and then stepped to join Harry,"What do you want?"

"I just wanted to see how things are going since the power of the oil had been broken." He tried not to look at him, but his eyes kept focusing on him.

"I've been good, things have gotten back to normal. I can finally be myself again. Forget all about you, as I have more important things to think about." Draco watched him squirm as he said that. He knew that had to break his heart, he wanted to break his heart. He wanted it to hurt.

"So you mean you feel nothing for me? It's all gone?"

Draco took another step towards him. He was taller than Harry and looked down into his eyes,"I feel nothing." Any closer to him and they would be kissing, _kissing_, god he wanted to kiss him.

Harry gulped,"Are, are you sure?"

"You want me to make sure?" Draco asked. "You really want me to make sure I feel nothing? Fine, I'll prove it." He pushed Harry up against the wall and placed his lips against his and kissed him softly. Harry moaned as he deepened the kiss. Draco ran his hand through his hair and tugged on it lightly, Harry placed his hand on his face and urged Draco further.

Both of Draco's hands were now on his hips, he was pulling him closer to his body, Harry was in heaven, this was what he wanted. Draco pulled away now, hands still on Harry's hips. "I felt nothing." He sneered. "There was never anything between us. Good bye Potter." he said and walked off into the darkness and out of Harry's life.


	16. Another Ending

**Wow, two chapters in two days! That has to be a new record!! This story might end up being a lot longer than I expected, that's alright with me, I just want to tie things up in a good way. R/R!!**

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Bags were packed. The school was a flutter with excitement, the year was over, time to go home. Harry had since almost forgotten about what had happened between him and Draco. It wasn't easy, but with help from Hermione and Ron, they had made it easier than it could have been.

Ron beamed up at Harry from the floor as he was picking a few stray objects out from under his bed,"Why so glum mate? You'll be spending a lot of the summer with us!"

"I don't know." he said with a sigh,"I just don't know." He was lying. He did know why. He wasn't going to see Draco over the summer. They would be no chances to try and convince him that they did love eachother. He would be forced to move on more completely than he had already.

"It's about Draco, isn't it?" Ron asked now sitting up throwing the objects into his trunk.

Harry didn't speak, he only nodded. Ron, searched his mind for things to say to his bestfriend, something that would cheer him up, and suddenly, something came to mind, something he had heard his mother say on several occassions. "Mum always said, that if you love someone, you have to let them go. They'll come back to you if they are truly yours." he smiled lightly.

"Thanks Ron. Means a lot to me. You trying to help me and all."

"Hey, what are best friends for?"

The platform at the train was crowded. Students were saying goodbye to teachers, and exchanging information with friends they had gained over the year. Harry, Ron and Hermione were trying to push through the crowd to get on the train and find a spot before all of the other compartments were taken. Ron had already stepped onto the train, Harry was about to take a step when something caught his eye. A certain blond haired slytherin.

He stopped completely in the door way and stared at him, stared at him like there would be no tomorrow. "Harry, what are you doing?" Hermione asked looking in the direction of his gaze. "Oh." she said when she finally saw what he was looking at. "Harry, go on inside." She pushed on his back gently but Harry just continued to stare at him, Draco looked at him a few times and turned away to laugh and joke with the others. He knew what he was doing. He had to make it hurt, just like all those times Harry had made him hurt.

"It's all in the past." Harry told himself and took a step onto the train.

Hermione stopped and watched Draco herself, he turned again and looked to where Harry was once standing, when he realized Hermione had caught him, he turned quickly and walked off to the other end of the train. "Yeah, I thought so." she said to herself.

When she reached the compartment where Ron and the rest of the gang was sitting, she plopped down beside Harry who was reading a magazine that Ginny had handed over. Within a few minutes, the train pulled away from the platform and Harry looked up to watch Hogwarts pass by his window. He sighed, he hoped, that over this summer, he'd be able to put everything behind him.

While everyone was busy reading or sleeping, Hermione told Ron she was taking a walk and left the compartment. She made up her mind, she was going to settle this. She walked toward the end of the train of which she knew Draco would be sitting and began to look inside each compartment. After a few minutes of nothing, she was happy to stumble upon a very nervous looking Colin,"Have you seen Malfoy?"

"Yeah," Colin said,"he's back there in the last one. Watch him, he's with his gang."

"Thanks Colin." she said and set off towards the compartment.

She stopped in front of the door and watched them for a few minutes before pulling the door open, "Malfoy, I need to speak to you."

Crabbe and Goyle jumped up and stood in front of the door blocking any entrance that she may have had. "I have no business with a mudblood such as you."

"It's about you know who." she said. Crabbe and Goyle looked at eachother, confused, which is nothing new. "Stand down." Draco said suddenly. Once again, the two eyed eachother, but obeyed him. "I will speak to you, but only for a bit."

"Draco?" Pansy asked.

"It's important. Stay here." he said looking at everyone in the compartment,"I mean it."

Once Hermione had found a empty compartment a few away from the one Draco was sitting in, she began to tell him everything. The pain Harry had been put through, the inner turmoil he had gone through because of the affection Draco had showed him, and was still showing, and yet, the way he was pushing him away, and this was making him even more confused than he ever was before.

Draco listened to her speak,"it won't work." he said lightly.

Hermione raised a delicate eyebrow,"what won't work?"

"Us, this, everything. It just cannot be."

"Make it work. Draco, I know you better than you think I do. I've watched you watch him. I think this is fate. Make it work."

"I don't think I can."

"Harry needs someone, as much as I hate to admit it, I think he needs someone like you."

The train began to slow and a summer drizzle began to splatter against the windows. Hermione stood leaving Draco where he sat,"just please think about it. Harry is miserable, and I think you are too. Don't wait too long though. He just may move on." She turned and walked away from him. He put his hands up to his head. What was he going to do?

The trio stood on the platform waiting for their parents, or in Harry's case to come and pick them up. Hermione's parents showed up first, followed by Ron's who were quite content to stand and wait for Harry's relatives to come for him. "Take care Harry. I hope things work out. Feel free to write me whenever, I'm always here for you." Hermione said. She hugged him and smiled at him,"Everything will be ok."

She walked off with her parents as they asked her questions about her year. Draco stood watching the crowd surrounding Harry. Hermione saw him and shot him a look that told him he better make a move soon and went back to conversing with her parents.

Draco was in for several long weeks.


	17. In Which Harry Ponders

**Another chapter is coming, sort of like this one except it's from Dracos POV. I hope you like!**

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Harry had been kept so busy during the first few weeks of the summer holidays, he barely had time to think about what had happened during the past couple of months.

His aunt would bang on his door at 7:30 and scream,"Get up! Get up you lazy child! Get up and fix breakfast!" She would continue to hammer on the door until Harry would scream back at her.

It was the same every day. Get up, get dressed and hoble down the stairs, into the bright kitchen and start breakfast and fill everyone's plates. Dudley would hassle him into making him another breakfast, bigger than the last, and Harry would have to oblige, even though he wanted to scream at him and say,"You don't need anymore you fat lazy poof!"

Dudley would laugh as Harry mumbled to himself every morning making the breakfast. Uncle Vernon would glare at him evily over the mornings paper and silently threaten him. Harry would just drop his head and continue with the morning chores.

Once his uncle was gone for work, his aunt would shove a list of things into his hand that she wanted done during the day. He'd groan everytime she'd hand him the list, which seemed to grow bigger and bigger each day. He'd get dressed in some work clothes and go outside to begin his work.

Once the day was done, he'd lay in his room at night, exhausted, but never falling asleep right away. Even though his muscles ached, and his eye lids were heavy, he'd lay and stare at the ceiling until his mind finally got tired of running through things and he drifted off to dream land.

He contemplated owling Ron or Hermione several times. Hell, he even comtemplated owling Draco, and that's when he knew he was truly off his rocker at this point. Draco probably would never recieve the letter, or he'd get it and not even read it. He might even do something horrible to Hedwig and he didn't want anything to happen to her. She was his only friend when he was at Privet Drive. He couldn't lose her.

The only thing that kept him remotely sane, was thinking that in just a few more short weeks, he'd be leaving this hell hole for the Borrow. The Weasely's were always more than happy to have him stop by, and they were even more happy to have him stay several weeks. Harry always tried to do his fair share of work when he stayed, but Mrs. Weasley would always complain and claim that it was the other childrens work, and to not lift a finger. He was secretly happy about that, even though he always did do some work. He felt obligated to do so.

He wondered why his friends hadn't owled him lately. The only contact he had with any of them was a package from Ron that arrived late one night from Pig who almost woke up the whole house. Harry had to satisfy him by giving him several treats before Harry was able to scribble a short reply of thanks and send him back.

The package contained all of his favorite treats from Honeydukes.

_Harry,  
Fred and George frequent Hogsmeade now doing some business with some people who own a few shops there. They thought you might like some things from Honeydukes. Trust me, the food is good, it's not a trick, and if it is,  
we'll just get them back for it later._

_Ron_

Harry sat the letter on his dresser and ate a piece of candy before shoving the package under the floor in his special hiding place that he had found a few years back. That place kept him sane whenever his aunt would with hold food, or whenever she'd go on her crazy diet streak and claim that everyone in the house to go on it. Even though Dudely never stuck to it, he never did either, but atleast he had good food to do it with.

On this particular night, Harry leaned back on his bed and stared at the ceiling, thoughts going to Draco like they had so many other times before. What was he doing? Did he miss him like he did?

_Of course he doesn't!_ Harry got up from the bed and swiped his arm across his dresser knocking several items off and onto the floor. Hedwig was frightened by this and began to flutter around her cage. "Quiet you." he said and gave her a few owl treats.

He paced around the room a few times and jumped onto his bed. Why did everything always go wrong for him? Did nothing _EVER_ work out for him? He came to the conclusion that he would never be loved. There were plenty of girls at his school that would die to date him, plenty, and yet, he found none of them attractive, and that was only because he was gay. Sure, there probably were a few guys that liked him as well, but he didn't know them, didn't care to know them, he only wanted to know Draco.

Did that make him obsessed? If so, he didn't care. He just wished that Draco would tell him what he wanted to know, and he wanted it to be the truth this time. There was something between them. Harry felt it. It was like a connection. More powerful than he had ever felt between himself and anyone ever before. Everytime Draco would touch him, it felt as if a electric current was running through his body. The night he kissed him, he felt as if he'd fall to pieces right there on the floor, and when he stopped, Harry felt as if he'd be a jigsaw puzzle forever.

"You have to move on." he said outloud and Hedwig hooted. "He doesn't love you. It was the oil, it caused all of this everything you felt, you weren't supposed to love him, and you fell for him, now you have to suffer, just like he did."

And at that moment, Harry was sure that he deserved to suffer.


	18. In Which Draco Ponders

**Sorry about the cliffie, things will start to unfold soon. Draco is plotting, but when isn't he? Things are going to get interesting again! By the way, some of you reviewers are funny. Quite funny. Anyway, on with the show.**

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The first couple of weeks of the summer holidays were not easy for Draco either. Since his father was in Azkaban, Draco was seen as the master of the house, and the house elves looked up to him for orders about certain things most of the time. Since his mother found out about Lucius being put away, she had taking to drinking most of the time and abandonning most of her duties, which put more of a strain on Draco.

By day, he'd conduct some of the family business and tried to avoid his mother as much as possible, for she was quite a bitch in the morning after long nights of drinking. He'd arrange meetings for his mother, take care of the finances, which were still quite a lot, even though no one in the house was working now, and make sure the house elves were doing their activities.

When Draco had a moment to rest, he'd think about Hermione's words to him on the train home from Hogwarts. He was thinking about what to do, it's just, he wasn't sure what he'd be happy with.

Of course, he had ideas, ideas which would surely drive his mother mad if she ever found out. His father wouldn't care, as Draco knew about the nightly romps he had with Snape and a few other people he was on a friendly basis with. He had ideas what his father and Voldemort did when they were alone too, but those thoughts bothered him to no end.

So, he'd take to sitting in his room and staring out the window at the lovely view. He'd do this for hours on end until a house elf came in to see what was up with him,"M-master." Trixle, a smaller than normal house elf said,"are you ok? Would you like something?"

"No, quite alright Trixle. I'll be sure to call if I change my mind however." Trixle bowed and turned to leave,"Trixle, wait." Draco called. The small house elf turned abruptly.

"Yes master?"

"I'm going outside in the garden by the pond. Can you make sure I am not bothered? If mother asks where I am, can you tell her I'm somewhere else? Away for all I care."

"Yes master." she bowed again,"I'll do my best." And turned to leave again.

Once out of the house and in the safety of the secluded garden, Draco sat on a stone bench and looked out across the water. Many times before, Draco had written a letter to Harry, but each time, he crumbled it up and threw it into the fire, watching the paper reduce to ashes. After a few minutes, he'd start writting a letter again and then throw it into the fire as well.

It's not that he didn't like Harry, he did. Gods, he did. He liked him with every fiber of his being. Every time he'd see him, it was like he was in pure ectasy. When Harry came to him that night to ask him if things were truly over, Draco wanted to push him up against the wall and kiss him forever. He didn't want to stop, but he did, he had too.

After the kiss, he stumbled back to the common room, his knees were so weak, when Harry had kissed him back, he knew he liked him in return and then he stayed up all night mentally kicking himself because of his actions. He could have taken him right there in the dark hallway, he wouldn't have complained. He should have done it.

Before his thoughts could go any farther, a small owl swooped by and dropped a letter into his lap. He looked up at the owl and realized it was not one he had seen before. This letter was from someone he'd never gotten one from before. His name was scrawled on the front of the parchment envelope in tiny delicate handwriting. It had to be a girl.

He opened up the letter and began to read:

Draco,

I sure hope you have given what I told you a thought. I haven't heard from Harry, so I'm guessing you haven't sent him any letters yet.  
I sure hope you make a decision soon, because I know it's killing him, and I'm sure it's killing you too. I saw you watching him the day we left Hogwarts. I saw fire in your eyes, I know you want him. Do yourself a favor, do him a favor, and admit it.

Hermione

Draco read the letter several times before folding it back up and shoving it back into his cloak pocket. He headed back towards the house and avoided the house elves who tried to pawn off some food and drink on him. He refused each offer and hurried up to his room, passing by his mother who was screaming at him, wondering where he had been.

He slammed his door behind him and threw the letter onto his desk. He paced back and forth a few times, and then plopped down onto his bed before getting back up to pace back and forth across the room again.

Gods this was killing him, killing him slowly. He needed a plan, some course of action that would allow him to get to Harry, something that would let Harry knew he cared and that he wanted to take things futher.

To start his plan, he penned a letter to Hermione asking when she'd be seeing Harry, sometime when he'd be away from those horrible muggle relatives of his. Then, Draco could truly begin planning how he was going to show Harry he truly cared.


	19. Moving to a Better Place

**Katie-An update for you! It's not long, couldn't find it in me to write anymore. But, it is an update!**

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Draco was surprised at how quickly Hermione had written him back once he wrote her back. She had given him the dates when Harry would be at The Burrow spending time with Ron's family and when they mostly likely would be shopping at Diagon Alley for school supplies. This made things easier for Draco, who was in the very early stages of planning how he was going to talk to Harry.

Harry on the other hand, was still buried in chores and marked the days off on his calendar when he'd be leaving. Mr. Weasley had sent a letter to his aunt and uncle exclaiming that by the second week of July, Harry would be packed and ready to go, and that, if they tried to stop him from leaving, the consequences would be dire.

The full moon outside of his window kept him awake. It held him in a trance almost. He laid on his side in bed and stared at it's beauty wishing he had someone to share it with. Then, his thoughts went to Lupin, who would be quietly sleeping in front of a fire place at this time, as he was currently in his wolf state.

He wished he had Lupin to talk to at this moment, as Lupin was a very understanding man. Caring, and lovable. He always had the right thing to say to Harry when he was feeling down. Always had the right thing to say to him when he had no one else to turn too. Since Sirius had gone, he turned to Lupin in his darkest hours. Lupin was the first person he confronted when he realized, that he was different from the other boys.

Lupin smiled lightly,"Is that it?" he laughed now,"I thought it was something else! Don't scare me like that Harry!" He put his arm around him now,"Just be yourself. Never apologize for who you are, and for who you love. If society cannot accept you, that is not your problem, it is theirs. Remember that."

Harry smiled, feeling great now, with this secret off his chest. He thought for a moment,"Have you ever apologized?" he asked.

"For what?" Lupin asked.

"For being who you are."

"Never."

However, Harry was beginning to wonder if he should apologize for being who he is. More so, he wanted to apologize for loving Draco. Apologize to his friends for putting them through this mess, and apologize to Draco for just being. He rolled over and fell asleep.

Harry was up bright and early on the day he was leaving the Dursleys. He packed his things into his school trunk, and retrieved all of things he had hidden under the floor board. He bound downstairs with a smile on his face only to recieve glares from his aunt and uncle. Dudley did nothing but cower behind his mother.

"You know, if those, those people,"Vernon spat,"try anything funny, I'll call the cops."

Harry couldn't help but laugh."I don't think calling the cops will solve that problem." Once again, his uncle glared at him, the nose from the fireplace was the only thing that jolted that from him.

Everyone stood now, Dudley still cowering behind his mother. Arthur stood in the fire place,"Harry! Nice to see you!" Ron appeared next.

"Hey Harry! I'll go get your stuff." He said just as Fred and George appeared behind him.

"Harry." The both said in unison with a nod as they followed Ron up the stairs.

Once Ron, Fred and George were back with Harry's items, they disappeared into the fireplace, Arthur pushed Harry along, "Say goodbye to these muggles Harry."

"Goodbye." He said, but no one said anything back.

Once at The Burrow, he was greeted by a chorus of,"Oh Harry! How nice to have you here!" Ron helped him put his things away in his room and joined him back downstairs where Hermione and Ginny were seated looking at a copy of Teen Witch Monthly.

The four of them sat in the living room conversing about what they had done over the summer. Of course, Harry's story about what he had done over the summer was not as interesting as Ron's or Hermione's, but he never had any good stories to tell when he was with the Dursleys. The look on Hermione's face, told him that she wasn't being completely honest, and that didnt set well with him.

Draco was sitting at his desk, making arrangements for what he was going to do for Harry. He wrote down what he wanted to do, and owled a few businesses in Diagon Alley, and some in Hogsmeade to carry out his plans. The first set of plans involved roses. A single red rose was to be sent to Harry, every day for a week, anonymously of course. He didn't want to blow his cover just yet. He just hopped Hermione could keep her end of the bargain.


	20. The No Name Gift

**Ok, so here, you get a little info about Draco's background. Enjoy!**

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On the morning the first leg of the plan was to take place, Draco was up early, finding himself thinking about his father.

It wasn't that Draco didn't love him. He did, he just didn't care for the things his father did. He barely laid a hand on him, only a few times when his anger was too great, and then he would smack him. That's not what he minded. He hated having restrictions on who he could love, and how he was to do it.

Pureblood. As much as he hated to admit it, Draco hated that term. Yes, he was one, but that doesn't mean he had to act like his family. His mother was worse at it than his father however. To be a perfect pureblood, you had to follow a strict list of criteria. Some of those criteria are,"You must put others down who are not pureblood. You must obey your family at all costs. Arranged marriages are what's best for purebloods to ensure that the blood line continues to be pure. At any time, any same sex romps are not acceptable, unless you are the commanding person of your household and it's only done out of passion, NOT love."

So that was that. To be with Harry, he had to make sure it was out of lust and passion, not love. Draco could never love anyone because of this. To be pure, he must have an arranged marriage, an arranged marriage to a woman that he could never love because he felt nothing for them. He could never love a guy because it was not acceptable because it's not out of passion, but out of lust. Yes, Draco Malfoy was doomed. He knew this. He only hoped, he'd have the courage, to throw off the boundaries of his family, one that he didn't agree with from the beginning and be true to himself, because, being true to yourself is what matters. He had never been a person to conform, and by following the orders of his family, he was doing the very thing he was trying to rebel against.

Draco never understood, how love, especially when it's between two consenting people, could be wrong. However, everywhere he turned, he had someone in his face saying that 'those people are wrong'. Love, in any form, is never wrong. Draco just had to continue telling himself this.

Hermione was already downstairs when Ron and Harry came down that morning. Ginny hid behind a magazine, trying not to let her loud giggles (directed completely at the morning hair of the boys) cause any disruption. Mrs. Weasley smiled brightly,"Morning boys!" She said loudly. Ron grumbled, Harry smiled.

"Morning Mrs. Weasley." He said pouring himself some orange juice. Mr. Weasley came in a few seconds after the morning greetings. He yawned and plopped down at the head of the table.

"Long night Arthur?" Mrs. Wesley asked putting eggs onto Ron and Harry's plates before returning back to the stove to start making more.

Mr. Weasley yawned again,"Yes dear. Some poor muggles got themselves into a bit of trouble with a gang of Wizards from Suffolk. Poor blokes. And you won't believe why the gang attacked the boys either?"

"Why is that dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked without turning around.

"Seems they were a couple. You know how those gangs are, popping up all over the place trying to force their views on everyone else. Seems they wouldn't have harmed them if they hadn't been a couple. This world is a crazy place Molly."

Harry coughed into his orange juice getting a worried look from Mrs. Weasley. Ron smacked him on the back.

She shook her head as she approached the table and placed a few eggs onto his plate,"Seems no one can be themselves anymore without causing problems with those people who believe they are always right."

Her sentence was cut off by the sound of a birds call. Everyone listened closely and Harry noticed the call of a owl. It wasn't Hedwig however, he knew for certain she was upstairs in her cage for the day. The owl, a large black one, entered the house and dropped a package into Harry's lap, made a few laps around the kitchen making a few loud calls and then swooped back out the window just as fast as it had came.

"Harry? Were you expecting anything?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"N-no. Not a thing. I wonder who this is from." Just as those words left his lips, he noticed Hermione turn quickly to Ginny and begin chatting about an article she just spotted in the magazine left open on the table. _Yeah, that's not odd_, he thought.

Slowly, he untied the ribbon surrounding the package and began to unwrap the brown paper surrounding it. Once open, Harry saw the most beautiful bouqet of roses he had ever seen, he gasped just as Mrs. Weasley had done the same thing,"Harry! Those are wonderful! Look for a card dear, who sent them?"

Harry looked amongst the roses, finding a card hidden among them, almost as if they didn't want him to find it. He picked it up and read to himself first:

_Love is kind, and love is cruel, I just want to be, in love with you_

"What does it say dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yeah Harry, what does it say?"

He read the inscription outloud to the entire room first,"Oh how sweet!" Mrs. Weasley said clasping her hands together under her chin. Ron made a face, but pretened to find it sweet. Ron is just Ron, you can't really change him how much you try.

"No name?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Nope, not a one. I don't know anyone who would be sending me flowers.

Hermione moved in her seat a bit, a sign of being slightly uncomfortable. Yes, Harry decided she knew something.

The rest of the day, Harry helped out around the house. First, him and Ron went to the garden and gave it a good de-gnoming. A few gnomes wandered back, but they quickly took care of those before they headed to their secluded spot to play a few games of quidditch before Mrs. Weasley began shouting at Ron to weed the garden. "I'm not expecting you to do anything of course Harry. Ron you can be so lazy at times! Harry dear, would you like some lemonade?"

Harry laughed, shook his head,"No thanks, I'll just go help Ron with the garden."

Once there, the first few minutes of weeding was spent in silence. That was, until Ron broke it,"Who do you think sent the flowers?" He asked, stopping with the weeds, and sitting on his heels.

"I'm not really sure." Harry answered stopping only briefly. "I don't understand who would want to send **ME**, _good for nothing, Harry Potter_, flowers. As it stands, I am sure I am destined to be alone."

"Don't say that mate." Ron said digging a bit in the soil before stopping again,"You don't think, that maybe, and you know, only just maybe, that it was Malfoy," he paused for a moment, wanting to not upset him,"do you?"

"Please. This is Malfoy we're talking about. The stupid git who lead me on for months before telling me that I meant nothing. I will never mean anything to him or anyone else for that matter."

Ron didn't say anything, he just went back to digging, letting Harry bask in his depression, I'm not good enough state. Deep down though, Harry had a feeling, it was just a tiny one, that maybe Malfoy DID send those flowers. And maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't be alone forever. There might be hope for him yet.


	21. Inner Conflicts

**Ok, here's a long awaited update. Are you guys happy now coughsRenee&Katiecoughs?**

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The week passed slowly, each new day bringing him new exciting gifts, from the still mystery person. After the flowers, Harry recieved a new broom cleaning kit, which made no sense to him, since he last broom, had, of course been destroyed in a Quidditch match. The next day however, that made more sense, as a new Firebolt had arrived on the doorsteps of the Weasley household. After Harry's initial ride(which was right after breakfast, as Mrs. Weasley wasn't too keen on the whole household standing outside watching Harry fly while she was inside fixing them breakfast), Ron went next, followed by Ginny, who almost fell off and touched back down giggling.

Harry offered his new broom to Hermione to ride, but she declined. It wasn't until a few hours later did he realize that she was afraid of heights and that asking her if she wanted a ride was a really stupid thing to do.

Harry also recieved a new cloak and dress robes from this mysterious admirer, who claimed that the dress robes he did have, were sort of a joke (he made sure Mrs. Weasley never saw that letter) and that he had better taste than however bought him the last ones, so here was a new one. The new cloak really was a lovely piece of work. Black velvet, which really seemed to compliment Harry's eyes, or so everyone seemed to tell him.

At night, when he was all alone, well partially, and in bed, he wouldn't deny, that his thoughts didn't stray back to Draco. Even when he slept, never got peace, never had a free moment where he didn't think about him. His wispy blonde hair (of which he stopped putting gel in, that of which Harry was thankful), it was all the better to run his hands through, and then there were his ice cold eyes. Those ice blue eyes, that most people claimed were a trademark of the Malfoy family, one that meant they were cold-hearted people that would never be kind to others. Harry, clinging to the first impression that he ever recieved of Malfoy, and comparing it to all the other times Malfoy gave him reasons to be mad at him, Harry felt, that just maybe, it was quite possible for those eyes to mean something. After all, they say the eyes are the windows to the soul.

And then, Harry remembered the few months they were stuck together working on the potions project for Snape. Of course he took into consideration that he was under the spell of a very powerful love oil, which can change everything about a person, well rather give you the illusion that the person has changed, since most spells, or most folk magic spells, are all about illusions, and changing the perceptions of people. So, whenever he looked into the eyes of Draco, it was just a illusion that he saw love, he didn't really. Or was it?

This was the conflict that bubbled within Harry for days on end. Night after night, he'd lay awake in bed thinking while Ron was already off in dream land. Night after night, he'd see those eyes, and he could feel his hair between his fingers, as odd as they may sound. On many occasions, he'd touch his lips with the first two fingers of his right hand, and he'd remember all those times that Draco had kissed him, and all the times he had pushed him away. He still wondered whether it was out of fear, or if it was something else. He often contemplated if it was a combination of things, but he tried not to dwell on that too much.

And then, one night, one fateful night, Harry went to sleep and woke up the next morning with a completely different outlook on things. He was going to take everyone's advice. Draco scorned him, pushed him away when Harry was ready to confess all of his feelings for him, and that day when Harry was getting onto the train, Draco wouldn't even look at him. If Draco could so easily push him away, and pretend that he felt nothing, even though, deep down, Harry felt that he just might have, he could do it too. He was over Draco Malfoy.

This all at the time when Draco was getting ready to get Harry when the group was preparing for a Diagon Alley trip. All while he was planning on the best way to tell him how he's always felt about him. Draco was ecstatic, he could never be happier, because he was truly going to be happy for once. He was throwing off the restrictions that his parents placed upon him, he was going to be himself, the Draco Malfoy that not everyone had seen before. Not the bully, not the complainer, not the tattle-tail and cheat, but Draco Malfoy, the gay man, the lover, and romantic. The guy that would do anything for the man he loved, and when I say anything, I really mean anything. As much as it scared him, Draco was really ready to show Harry the true him.

He once heard his mother talking about love, and she said,"When you're ready to show someone the true you, without putting up any shields and without wearing any masks, you know you've found the one. And, if you are ready for them to accept you, at all times, and you aren't afraid of what they'll think of the true you, then you know, without a doubt, that it's love." This is one of the only times Draco ever listened to anything his mother told him, and one of the rare times he ever respected her teachings.

As he thought about it more and more, he realized that it was time to show Harry who he really is. He was tired of putting up a front, and not with just Harry, with everyone he every encountered. He was tired of coming off as the arsehole who was only in it for him, and screw everyone else that didn't fit into his perfectly planned and well thought out life, of which, was completely planned by his parents, and he had no hand in it. It was time that was stopped. He was sure, well rather he hopped that Harry was ready to accept the real him, a part of him felt he was, the other part felt he wasn't, however Draco wasn't that worried. Harry loved him, he knows this, and he loves Harry, that's all he needs to know.


	22. The Secret Meeting

**It's been over two years since I updated this story. I'm on break from school right now and I decided that tonight would be a good night to start on this again because I really would love to finish this story. But, since it's been so long, I don't remember what my original plot idea was, and what I had written on this chapter was accidentally deleted from my flash drive, so I'm left trying to piece together parts of this story for everyone to read. I know it's not my best work, but I hope everyone becomes interested again, and will be around to see me finish this, hopefully very soon. **

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For the first time, in a really long time, Harry spent a nice day with friends and what he considered to be family. Instead of being inside all day, confused about life, and worried about forever being lonely, he was finally happy.

The Weasley's along with Harry and Hermione hit all the best shops in Diagon Alley, even if it meant they had to shop for school items. Deciding that shopping for books now was really a bad idea, they went to get measured for robes, and then Mr. Weasley, whom had just received an excellent pay raise from the ministry, treated everyone to sundaes.

Ron would crack jokes; Hermione would roll her eyes and finish with "Honestly Ron!" Everything was right. Harry had forgotten about Draco, it was ok that things would forever be different between them. After all, he was right, he had a different destiny, one that he wasn't even sure of, one that would probably mean life or death, and because of that, he had no time for love, at least not right now.

Hermione had taken notice of the sudden change in Harry. She wasn't sure if getting out of the house had done it, or if Harry had realized that sometimes, things just aren't meant to be. After all, Harry has faced a lot of hardships in his life. More than anyone, he should understand the concept of destiny, of life, of love, and of misfortune. She just wasn't sure if Draco's plan would go accordingly. After all, if Harry has moved on, both would probably end up back where they begin.

Once everyone had their fill of ice cream, they set off down Diagon Alley once again, this time to purchase school books. Before they even reached the storefront, Harry felt a tugging on his robes and looked down to find a small house elf standing there. This elf however, did not only grab his attention, but everyone else's as well.

"Sir?" the house elf said.

"Uh, yes?" Harry asked, confused as ever.

"You are Harry Potter, correct?" He said stiffly, as if he talked to wizards in this tone all the time.

"Yes."

"Everything ok Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Yes, everything is fine, go ahead without me." He said.

"I am Harry Potter." Harry said again to the elf that seemed to be growing rather impatient. Harry had to admit he was growing rather impatient himself.

"This is for you. I cannot tell you who it is from, I am under strict orders. Your directions are in the note."

"Directions? What for?" Harry asked holding the letter as if it might explode.

"I know nothing more Sir. I only do what I is told." The elf said, "I only do what I is told."

"Thank you then," Harry said. And with a snap of his fingers, the house elf was gone.

And now, Harry was all alone, holding a letter from an unknown, that could be cursed, could ultimately spell his devise, or even worse.

One he decided that he was not in any trouble (which took him a few minutes of speaking allowed to himself, which, he decided, made those few souls that dared to venture past him believe that Harry Potter had finally gone made) he slowly opened the envelop that contained the letter and inspected the contents for any sign of wrongdoings.

Satisfied that it was just a normal letter after all, he removed it from it's paper home. With hands shaking, he opened it gently, afraid that he might disrupt the contents if he moved too fast and read.

_Harry,  
It's time that I stop this foolish game. I want to meet, to reveal myself to you. Stop by the Leaky Cauldron before you leave Diagon Alley. Come to room 15 and knock twice. I will be waiting. Do not disappoint me._

Determined to meet this mystery person once and for all, he decided, as he usually did, that no one was going to stop him. He reread the letter several times and felt as if this was not a joke and that he was not in any danger. If this person wanted to harm him, they could have done so with any of the items he had delivered to the Weasley's while he lived there. They just wanted to talk, nothing more, and they deserved their chance, especially if they went through this much trouble to send him the expensive gifts, and this letter, they deserved a chance.

Just when he decided he was ready to tell the others he would not be returning to the Burrow with them, they were approaching him, arms full of books and other items. "Everything ok Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," Harry said shaking his head. "Look, I have some business to take care of at the Leaky Cauldron. I won't be going home with you guys, at least not tonight."

"Are you sure that is wise Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yes, I will be fine. I have my wand."

"Harry, are you sure?" Hermione asked. "Is that about what you received from that house elf?"

"Yes, and I think they deserve to be heard. So I am going."

"Your admirer?"

"Yes." Harry said again.

"Just please be careful, Harry."

Once everyone had decided he truly was safe and that he could return home once his meeting with this mystery person was over, Harry walked with the Weasley's and Hermione to the Leaky Cauldron. They said their goodbyes and now, Harry was left alone standing in the hallway outside of room number 15, unsure of whether or not to knock.

Finally, with his wand ready, he knocked on the door, unsure of what would happen next.

"Come in," a soft voice said from the other side of the door.

Harry slowly turned the knob and took a fateful step inside.


	23. The Truth Explained?

**Alright, the next chapter of Harry and Draco's life. Just an FYI I have a message board started if anyone wants to visit it, make some posts, etc. It's about fanfiction in general. Feel free to discuss my stories, your stories, or someone else's stories. Everyone is welcome. **

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The room was dark, and Harry strained to see something, anything, but his vision failed him. He made sure to keep his wand ready, just in case he had to defend himself, but there was no shouts in the dark, not bright flashes of light that meant he had been attacked, just silence.

"I was beginning to think you wouldn't come." The voice from the darkness said.

Harry spun around quickly to catch a glimpse of the person that had plagued him the past few weeks, but once again, he saw nothing. "Who are you?" He finally managed to ask.

Soft footsteps moved across the floorboards until a blonde haired boy stood in front of him, "It's me Harry, Draco."

"Draco?! What the hell?"

"I guess Granger did her job then." Draco said with a snort.

"Granger? You mean Hermione was in on this?" Harry asked scratching his head with his wand. All of those basic wand safety classes had obviously taught him nothing.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Draco said moving across the room to sit at a small shabby table.

"I don't understand," Harry said. "I just don't get it. You blew me off at school, made it seem like some sort of sick joke. You did something to me that no one has ever done before and you tell me it meant nothing." He had surprised himself at the tone of his voice.

"Harry, we need to talk. Otherwise I wouldn't have called you here."

"You're bloody well right, we do need to talk." Harry spat.

"Well are you going to sit down and put your wand away, or are you going to curse me?" Draco asked pouring himself a drink and leaning back in his chair, staring at Harry like he was some sort of person sent to amuse him.

"I'll sit, but I can't promise you I won't decide to curse you." Harry said taking a seat across from the blonde.

"Very well," Draco said, "there is something about me you need to know."

Draco spent two hours telling Harry about his life, everything from his past, to his present and finally to the future. Of what it really meant to be a Malfoy, something that he hadn't really told anyone before, because being around nothing but pureblood wizards meant that they already knew. Harry was so gripped with his story; he had managed to put his wand away not even halfway through his tale. He had decided that he and Malfoy were on even turf now. If Malfoy cared enough to put everything about his life on the line, then he was finally vulnerable. As far as Harry was concerned, he had always been vulnerable because everyone knew everything about his life.

"I still don't understand everything, Malfoy. The Essence of Aphrodite Oil, what happened with that, was that just obsession?"

Draco laughed, "Sometimes you are pretty dense, aren't you Potter?"

"It takes me awhile. But I figured you were explaining everything else; why not just explain that to me too."

"The oil, sort of has its own essence, or life force if you will, "Draco began pouring himself another drink, "the oil can sense things, it knows when two people are around, when someone feels anger and wants revenge, that's how it works. Now, in its original state, the oil was never meant for that purpose, as Aphrodite does not want love to be a revenge cure. Love is supposed to be perfect, pure, unyielding and forgiving.

However, as people often do, especially wizards, they enjoy creating new things, manipulating free will and life to meet their needs. Sometimes the casters don't mean to do it, sometimes it's not even for them selves, but the fact remains that someone wanted it, so someone created it. Someone wanted revenge on another person, and revenge, in its evilest form is the manipulation of emotions, especially love."

Draco smirked, signifying the irony in the situation and continued, "Now, I never said Snape was the smartest man, but sometimes, he doesn't always think things through. Throwing two people that hate each other in a room where Essence of Aphrodite is kept, well, needless to say isn't the brightest idea. It sensed your anger; it felt that you wanted revenge. You were the first person in that I saw once I tripped into the oil. You therefore were thought to be the one that was casting the spell. Essence of Aphrodite is used in cases were revenge is wanted almost immediately. And immediately, it began. The oil just took something that was already present and amplified it. I would have drowned in it too if you hadn't loved me back. I was only willing to show my true feelings under its spell. It was the only time, I, Draco Malfoy could truly be myself and use the excuse of a great and powerful oil used in the wrong light. I had to lie; I had to pretend because I don't know anything else other than what I've been taught."

Draco sighed and Harry looked at the floor. He hated admitting that he was so dense sometimes, but he was. Snape, however wasn't off the hook for this one. Two enemies together in the same room, he probably had hoped Harry would mess up like he often does and be the one to succumb to the oil. He, had been wrong, and seen the two boys on a path that had never expected.

"So, all this time, you were just in love with me." Harry finally said.

"I never said boys were bright either." Draco said cocking his head to the side, "sometimes we're just as dense as you are."

"Funny, you're such a comedian." And for the first time during his stay, he cracked a smile.

And then there was silence. And then finally, "are you mad at me?" Draco asked with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I don't know what to think anymore."

"I'm really sorry I treated you the way I did. I just don't think you understand my reasoning behind it."

"It's hard for me to understand. I'll keep replaying your words, and I'll never fully understand it." Harry said leaning back in his chair.

"You need time to think, go home. Think about it. I'll keep in touch." Draco said standing up collecting his things, "unless you don't want me too."

"Just give me some time. A day or two, just some time to think." Harry said walking towards the door. With every step he took, he only felt more confused.

"See you later then Draco." He didn't wait for a response.

By the time he had gotten back to the Burrow, it was almost 11 'o' clock. Mrs. Weasley was waiting up for him, with a plate of food.

"I was worried," she said getting him a drink.

"I know," Harry said, and sat down to eat. He didn't complain about her fussing anymore.

Harry ate in silence for awhile with the thoughts of the conversation he had with Draco earlier plaguing his mind. "Mrs. Weasley, if you don't mind, I have a question."

"Yes dear?" She asked waving her wand to finish up the chores of the day.

"Wow, I had this planned and now I'm not sure how to ask this." Harry could feel his cheeks blushing as Mrs. Weasley sat down beside him at the table, with a soft smile on her face.

"It's about a boy, isn't it?"

Harry almost choked on his juice, "How did you know?"

"We know these things, mothers." She said patting her chest, "you can't pull one over on us."

"If there was this boy that had really treated you badly in the past, but then you found something out about him that really made you want to change how you thought about him. Would it? I mean, what would you do?"

"Well, I'd sleep on it, but I'd do whatever my heart told me to do. If I truly felt that he meant well, then I'd probably give it a chance. Sometimes, it pays well to give them another chance, sometimes it doesn't. Intuition is the key."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley."

"No problem dear."

And he went to sleep on it.


	24. Always OK

**Short and a cliffy, I know. Hopefully I'm leading everyone up to something good and something everyone is happy with however. Reviews are love, faves are great, and author alerts and story alerts are always nice. Remember I'm always interested in what everyone has to say, so don't hesitate. **

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Harry was sure he would have slept longer the following morning if he hadn't woken abruptly to find Hermione and Ron standing over him with the look on anticipation. A look that he had seen many times in the past, but usually only when it dealt with Voldemort and whatever he may be planning next. He wasn't used to tell them about his love life. 

Instead of waiting for them to ask him, he just began telling them the story. He made sure to tell them every detail that Draco had told him in room 15 and what Draco had explained about the oil. Hermione had scoffed at that point and said, "Well maybe he isn't as dense as I expected."

Except for Hermione's outburst, both had kept relatively quiet throughout his story. Once he was finished, both gave him time just in case he had more to tell. Once they were sure he was finished, Ron sat down next to him, "And what are you going to do?" He asked avoiding his gaze.

"I don't know. I told him to give me a few extra days." Harry said moving to the mirror to try once and for all to fix his messy black hair.

"Well it is best." Hermione said, "after all, you still don't know his true motives. He _is_ a Malfoy after all."

"Yes, but according to him, you encouraged this little set up." Harry said looking at her over his shoulder in the mirror, "if it hadn't been for you, he wouldn't have invited me to The Leakey Cauldron."

"I only saw what his act had done to you. I admit I see something different in him Harry, but I can't promise you that it's not something entirely different."

"So then, what am I supposed to do?" He almost shouted spinning around. "First, you question his motives with the oil, you kind of think it's some sick joke. Then, you find the cure, don't tell me and rejoice when it came true. Then, you go behind my back and tell Draco to rethink it and try and work things out? What on earth do you want me to do?"

Ron looked the other way after Harry's question and Hermione shifted in her seat. "Harry, I can't tell you what to do. It wouldn't matter if I did. Every time we give you suggestions on what to do, what step to take next with Voldemort, you just ignore us anyway. We're just along for the ride." She paused and rose to her feet, "You can't expect us to come to you every time you have a problem and tell you what to do if you never listen to us. And for once Harry, I choose to sit this one out." Harry could almost see the look of shock upon Ron's face. "I can't counsel you on your love life too." She walked across the room but stopped with her hand on the door knob, her voice lowered, "I can't do it anymore." And she was gone before Harry could even blink.

Ron cleared his throat, and walked to the door himself, "Mum says breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. See you downstairs." And then he was gone.

Harry had expected the air between Hermione and himself to be thick with tension, but after he dressed and joined the rest of the family downstairs, she was quite happy and began talking about an interesting piece of information she read in a runes book that she thought he may enjoy. He didn't say much, just smiled and tried to listen to her, but his thoughts strayed to Draco, Hermione's words and his ever pressing problem of what he was going to do.

If Harry hadn't experienced the past two days passing by him self, he wouldn't have believed it. And if he hadn't seen the lovely owl set down upon him and Ron in the garden that day as they worked on chasing gnomes off (yet again), he wouldn't have believed that Draco had waited to give him time to think.

Without looking up, Ron asked, "Figured out what you're going to do yet?"

"No." Harry said quite plainly plopping down onto the soft dirt. "What would you do?"

"Well," Ron said abandoning a dizzy gnome to join his friend, "you don't make bad decisions too often. Sometimes you're misguided, but you're usually spot on." Ron said tossing a rock behind him.

Both boys were quiet for a few minutes. Harry twirled the letter over and over again in his hands. He didn't have to open it to recognize the fancy handwriting on the front, and he didn't have to open it to know Draco had been curious about his decision.

"I'm not an expert," Ron began, "but I'd say, do what you feel is best. You're the only person that I'd follow blindly somewhere, Harry." He smiled, "I won't even do that for Fred and George anymore."

After a few more quiet minutes, Ron stood and attacked a nearby gnome trying to scramble back into his hole. Harry tucked the letter in his pants pocket and went back to helping Ron, sure that his friends would stick by him no matter what.

That evening, once everyone had settled down for the evening, Harry retreated to the room he shared with Ron and began to pen a letter to Draco. He hadn't thought much about what he had planned to do, but it seemed better than nothing. He had always been the type to act first, think later anyway. It was how he acted and, he had managed to come out in the end ok. After all, he had fought Voldemort on so many occasions and won. He always went in knowing nothing, and came out battered and bloody, but alive.

He reread the letter over and over again, hoping to make some sense out of his own logic. Finding none, he folded the letter and tucked it away inside some of his school books. Hopefully, when he woke up, he'd find the answer that he was searching for. If he was really doing the right thing, if this was really what was meant for him. He wasn't sure of much anymore anyway. With evil wizards trying to kill him at every turn, and the son of one evil wizard vying for his affection didn't help the situation either.

Suddenly exhausted, he climbed into bed hoping for the best.


End file.
